Taken
by Tay-21
Summary: Connor and Abby find themselves in a very dark situation with only the other to rely on, if they can learn to trust each other. The new version is now complete. See Author's Note for more details on this version of the story. Please read and review.
1. I Trusted You

**A/N: This has already been published over on my LJ page, but this version has been revised. It will be a little darker and more violent. So, if you read it over there, this one's a bit different. There are two chapters that will have an M rating because of the changes and additions, but most of it will be T. Thanks for reading, and as always, please, please, please review.**

******Disclaimer**: Primeval and its characters belong to Impossible Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended. 

**Chapter 1 - I Trusted You (Prologue)**

Abby had always trusted Connor. Yeah they had their awkward moments, but she never thought he would betray her; not like this.

"How could you?" she screamed accusingly at him. She was angry. She hated not being in control. She fought and thrashed wildly against the hands that held her down. The soldiers were much stronger than her and they pinned her down while they tightened the restraints on her arms, legs, and torso.

Connor stared back at her with that same horrified and bewildered expression he had on his face when she had accused him of always hating Jack. She had been wrong about him then too. All she saw was Connor standing by while she was tied down. She screamed in frustration.

"Shut her up will you." One of the soldiers had said. "She's giving me a headache." One of the other men moved to tie a piece of cloth over her mouth and Connor found his voice.

"NO!" he said rather forcefully. "If you want me to help you, then that's enough. Abby, please stop fighting. It'll be easier, I can explain."

"Shut UP CONNOR! Don't talk to me. How COULD YOU?" her voice rising to the level of a scream again.

"Please Abby, just let me explain," he pleaded.

"You don't have time to explain." The soldier behind Connor stated gruffly.

"Please Tom," Connor begged.

"No. Let her calm down, we've got work to do." Tom replied.

Connor hung his head and was pulled from the room. The other black clad soldiers followed suit, leaving Abby alone in the windowless dark room.

As soon as she heard the click of the lock she began to cry. There were already tears on her face, but those had been tears of anger, rage and frustration. What came now were tears of fear, hurt and betrayal.

She instantly wished she hadn't started because she couldn't wipe them away. Her arms were secured to the bed at her sides and the **only** thing she could move was her head. She did her best to wipe her cheeks on her shoulder, but it wasn't very effective.

She started trying to work out what exactly was going on while she lay there crying. Slowly she got control of herself and her head began to clear of the raw emotion that had clouded her brain. She still couldn't believe that Connor would be complicit in her abduction. She kept asking herself, _How could Connor do this to her? How could he?_ But the more she thought about it, the less accusing and the more questioning she became. _How **could** Connor?_

Connor would never put her in danger. He'd put himself between her and danger on numerous occasions. As she became less angry and more confused, some things started to clear.

As she played back what had just happened, she began to see new details in it. Details like the fact that Connor had never moved into the room properly the whole time he had been there, not even when he had been trying to calm her down. His arms had not come up expressively like they usually did when he talked. He had been stiff as a board the entire time.

Then there were other details like the expression of fear and horror on his face for most of the time; the terrified defeated look in his eyes; the look of shock that had spread across his face when she'd first been brought in to the huge warehouse.

The last little detail that clicked into place in her conscious mind were the slight bruises that, now that she thought about it, spread across his left cheek and right temple. There had also been a small cut above his right eye going through his eyebrow and he had a split lip too. Now she really was afraid. Part of her was still angry though. _What had Connor got them into?_


	2. Kryptonite

**A/N: This has already been published over on my LJ page, but this version has been revised. It will be a little darker and more violent. So, if you read it over there, this one's a bit different. There are two chapters that will have an M rating because of the changes and additions, but most of it will be T. Thanks for reading, and as always, please, please, please review.**

******Disclaimer: Primeval and its characters belong to Impossible Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended. **  


**Chapter 2 - Kryptonite**

It had all happened so fast.

Connor had beaten Abby home, but then he decided to walk to the store to get her some ice cream.

He knew how much she liked it, especially when she was in one of her moods. _Scary how attune to her he was_. She had snapped at most of the ARC crew today, and Connor could tell she was overtired.

He walked down the street completely lost in thought and totally unaware of the scene around him.

He was tired too and was trying to think of the right way to move things forward with Abby. They had kissed and shared some intimate moments whilst stuck in the past, but nothing had really happened since. At least not in the way he wanted it to.

He saw the door of a dull grey-blue van open out of the corner of his eye and something pricked painfully in his neck at the exact same time.

The world started to spin as the two men in black BDU's got out of the vehicle and caught him before he hit the ground pulling him into the automobile. He had just enough time to look into their hard, cold eyes before everything went black.

* * *

Connor woke up feeling like he was going to be sick. He couldn't move, and this confused him. His head pounded which only added to the feeling that he was going to vomit. He quickly realized this would be a bad idea because of the knotted cloth bound across his mouth. It tasted foul and made him want to heave all the more. His mouth was so dry, it seemed all the moisture in him had been soaked up by one of the large knots that had been forced between his teeth. His arms, shoulders and back ached and he couldn't alleviate his discomfort because of his inability to move. He shivered. It was cold and he suddenly became aware that he wasn't wearing a shirt. He was certain he had been wearing one when he left the flat. He still had his black jeans on, but no shoes or socks either. He shivered again, pain radiated down from his shoulders to the base of his spine.

He screwed his eyes shut as tight as he could and tried to remember what had happened. All he could remember was that he wanted to get ice cream for Abby.

He breathed slowly and steadily through his nose trying to ease the nausea that kept washing over him. He was in a seated position and that seemed to help a little. As he calmed down he opened his eyes and looked around.

It was dark in the room except for cracks of light around a doorway. He took stock of his situation.

He was tied to a chair with his arms uncomfortably zip tied over the top of and down low behind the chair. His legs were also fastened to the chair at each ankle. He could feel the zip ties digging in painfully. With his arms positioned as they were, he had to sit up very straight, straining his back by having to keep it slightly arched.

After about what he guessed was an hour of being stuck in the dark like this, _who knew haw long he'd actually been there before he woke up_, the door opened and a bright light flicked on. Connor winced and then completely shut his eyes for a few moments to try to ease the pain. He involuntarily bit down on the knot in his mouth sending a fresh wave of the foul tasting gag across his tongue. This did nothing to help his still raging headache or the muscle spasms that had started rippling down his back.

A man in a pinstriped suit came in with several soldiers.

"Good evening, Mr. Temple. My name is Mr. Adan Canalla, but that is not really important. What is important is that you understand why you are here. You are here for one reason, and one reason alone, which is to help me."

He strolled casually around until he was behind Connor. He untied the gag in Connor's mouth. His jaw ached from the gag. He clenched and unclenched it in an effort to ease the soreness.

Mr. Canalla leaned down and spoke directly into Connor's ear, sending shivers up and down his already protesting spine.

"This can go easy, or it can be difficult, but you will do what I ask." He straightened up and walked back around where Connor could see him properly.

"I need you to build me something. It should not be too complicated; it's just a small matter of reverse engineering." He looked down at his nails and then nonchalantly rubbed them on his jacket.

"So, easy or hard?" he finished.

He had a hint of a Spanish accent. Everything about him suggested he was dangerous, quietly dangerous. He was clean cut and immaculately dressed.

Connor said nothing; he licked his dry lips and just glared at the man. He had no intention of helping them, but he wondered how much force they were willing to try. He had been through the scenario training for just this thing with Becker. He was not to reveal any state secrets. There was too much at stake.

"The hard way then." Mr. Canalla said.

One of the soldiers, a big burly man, stalked towards Connor and, without any warning, sank his fist deep into Connor's stomach immediately knocking the wind out of him. Connor gasped and tried to suck in air, but couldn't seem to catch his breath. The soldier hit him again, this time in his ribs on his left side followed by an almost immediate punch on his right side. He cried out in a gasp of intense pain. His breathing was quick and shallow.

He would never have thought it could physically hurt to breathe. His head was down as he tried to catch his breath. It had only been three hits, and he knew it was going to get worse. The soldier who had hit him grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled his head back. He looked up at his captors still trying to suck in shallow gasps of air.

"Will you help us, Mr. Temple? Or shall I give my men free reign with you? They can be very persuasive you know."

"I can't help you. Won't help you. Do… do what… you want." He followed up as defiantly as he could. He knew this was going to hurt. Maybe he could make Becker proud. He'd been working with him lately, and even though he wasn't anywhere near Becker's physical prowess, he had gotten stronger, learned how to take a hit. Now that he knew they were coming, he could better prepare for it.

Mr. Canalla got up into his face. "Such defiant words for an intellectual. I don't think you have it in you to keep up this conviction, but we'll see." He turned to address the soldiers, "try to avoid hitting his head, we don't want to damage that brilliant brain of his."

Connor took hit after hit as they relentlessly tried to "persuade" him to cooperate. Tears streaked his pale, exhausted face and innumerable grunts of pain escaped his throat, but he wouldn't talk, he wouldn't relent.

He came close to breaking on more than one occasion, but each time the faces and words of people he cared for came into his mind's eye. Abby: "_Don't give up on me now_". _Cutter_: "_It's on you now_". _Abby_. _Stephen_. _Abby_: _"Think of a happy place"_. Even occasionally Danny and Becker flashed before his eyes. But always he returned to the picture of Abby: _"Connor, shut up"_. _Abby_. _Abby_. He couldn't let them down; he wouldn't let them down. So many things could go wrong if the information he possessed got into the wrong hands.

Helen had proved that. She had nearly succeeded in her attempt to wipe out the human race. So he stayed quiet, or rather as quiet as the abuse he was enduring would allow.

Hours seemed to pass; Connor knew he couldn't hold out much longer, he was near to passing out. His breathing was shallow and labored. They had switched to occasionally using a cattle prod on his already badly bruised and possibly fractured ribs. Not only was this brutally more painful on its own, but it made him arch his back even more as he writhed and screamed at the new level of pain he didn't even know he was capable of experiencing.

He tried his hardest to be brave and keep quiet, but it was getting harder and harder. Involuntary cries of pain leapt from his mouth, but he swallowed them down as quickly as he could. He tried to focus on breathing. It was getting harder to keep that steady as well. He found himself falling more on the side of gasping mingled with the occasional sob rather than actually breathing.

He began to worry that they might kill him. He didn't want to die, but that might be what it would take to keep everyone else safe.

His vision started to blur as a soldier, temporarily forgetting about not hitting him in the head, struck his temple. Colours danced in front of his eyes. Another hit across the mouth and his lower lip split. Blood oozed down his face and off his chin.

"Enough." Came the cool, calm, calculated Spanish accent of Mr. Canalla. "Who knew Mr. Temple had this much in him. I think he's made of stronger stuff that we gave him credit for."

Connor looked up, a small, weak grin playing across his now battered face.

"Don't mistake me, Mr. Temple, you haven't won, I am simply going to shift tactics; find another way to come at you that might be more persuasive than just brute force."

He got down in Connor's face again.

"You should be worried about what I might come up with and who it might involve."

The small grin vanished from Connor's face. _Abby_, he thought again for the hundredth time over the last few hours. He thought he even might have said it a few times. He couldn't be sure; he hoped he hadn't.

To his immense relief, they untied him from the chair and took him to another room. There was a camp bed and an adjoining small bathroom. They sliced the zip tie binding his wrists together and shoved him into the room, throwing his shirt in after him.

He stumbled and in his weakened condition fell to floor. The door slammed shut behind him.

Connor dragged himself over to the bed and rolled onto it. He was thirsty, but he didn't have the strength to get up and go to the sink. His whole body ached from the beating he'd just had. Not even having the strength to think, he immediately fell into a deep but fitful sleep. Every movement caused him pain making him to cry out involuntarily as he moved in his unconscious state.

* * *

Some time later, Connor woke to the sensation of someone touching cool water to his face. He jerked away from the unfamiliar touch and opened his eyes. One of the soldiers was sitting on a chair that had not been there before at a table that was also new with a whole variety of first aid equipment on it.

"Easy," the soldier said, holding up the white cloth that he had been using to clean the blood off of Connor's face. "I'm not going to hurt you. My name's Tom, I'm one of the medical officers here and you have been put in my care. However, don't think that because I'm a medical officer you can pull anything over on me. I am a soldier as well and I follow orders. Do you understand?" Connor nodded. "Lay back down," Tom instructed.

Connor did as he was told. Tom cleaned and bandaged Connor's cuts and burns and even taped up his badly bruised ribs. "You've been out for a day and a half. I convinced them that you needed to rest. While they were upset that you won't help us, most of the soldiers were impressed with your resistance."

Connor simply stared at the ceiling wondering what they were going to do to him now. They must have other plans in place or they would probably just have killed him already. They certainly had proven that they weren't afraid to use force.

He looked at the other man for the first time. He had kind eyes despite his gruffness. He wondered how he had ended up with this outfit. It was probably the money he concluded cynically.

"Are you done?" Connor asked

"Yes."

"Can I get up now then? I need to… go, if you know what I mean." Connor motioned to the small bathroom.

"Oh, yes of course. You'll find your shirt, shoes, and socks in there as well."

Connor got up gingerly and crossed to the other room. He shut the door behind him and leaned his head on the cool stone.

He tried to put the time line together of how long he had been here and if his friends back home would be looking for him yet. Certainly Abby would have noticed him missing by now.

Connor went to the toilet and relieved himself. He pulled his shirt on and went to the sink to wash his hands. He caught his reflection in the mirror. The swelling had gone down from before, but the bruises were turning all the mottled funny colours of old bruises. There weren't that many on his face though. He guessed his torso would be whole other story.

He didn't look. He sat on the edge of the tub and pulled on his socks and trainers.

When he came out of the room, the medical officer was no longer alone. Mr. Canalla and a few more soldiers were there with him.

"I see you're on the mend."

Connor said nothing; he didn't even look him in the eyes.

"Well if you won't acknowledge me, perhaps you'll acknowledge these." He held out a dossier type folder with some photographs in it.

Connor took the folder he was handed and on closer inspection recognized the flat he shared with Abby.

He looked up in horror at Mr. Canalla. He flipped through the photos one by one. Pictures of Abby walking to her car. Pictures from inside the flat. Her bedroom. His bedroom. Their living room. More pictures of Abby under unknown surveillance. He looked back up at Mr. Canalla.

"Perhaps you might reconsider your previous position?"

"Wha - - What do you want?"

"I told you, I want you to build something for me. And it shouldn't be that difficult."

"Ok. Just leave Abby out of it. Please." Connor asked shakily. He couldn't risk anything happening to her. He handed the photos back dejectedly, hands shaking.

"We'll see. You've already proven that you can be very uncooperative, you might need some extra motivation."

"I can be cooperative, just don't hurt Abby."

"Like I said, we'll see. Follow me please."

Connor followed the soldiers out of the small room and up the stairs to the main room of the warehouse, his head down and his shoulders heavy with defeat.

They sat him down at a worktable with a computer. There was no Internet connection, or at least none that was readily accessible, he'd would have to try though, after all, he had to warn Abby, and all the technical gear he would need to build anything they wanted. Mr. Canalla dropped a device down in front of him.

"I want you to make this work. Tom here will assist you with anything you'll need. We'll be watching very closely, I wouldn't try anything that might put Miss Maitland in danger." Connor nodded and immediately got to work.


	3. The Pleasure of Your Company

**A/N: This has already been published over on my LJ page, but this version has been revised. It will be a little darker and more violent. So, if you read it over there, this one's a bit different. There are two chapters that will have an M rating because of the changes and additions, but most of it will be T. Thanks for reading, and as always, please, please, please review.**

******Disclaimer: Primeval and its characters belong to Impossible Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended. **

**Chapter 3 - The Pleasure of Your Company**

Abby had not seen Connor for a few days. She had found a note that he'd left on the coffee table saying that he was going to a mate's house for a gaming weekend. She thought it was odd that he hadn't mentioned this at work.

She had hoped that they were going to be able to hang out together. While his note was a bit strange sounding, it was Connor after all. When he didn't show up on Monday though she started to worry.

She thought he would have been glad to be back at the flat; maybe he was avoiding her. Still, it was Connor. She opened the door to her flat. It had been a long day, and she really wanted to talk to him. Maybe he was home by now.

The door closed on its own behind her, which was unusual, she usually had to push it shut.

She turned back around and saw a man with close-cropped hair and black BDU's standing between her and the door. _**This was bad**_**.**

_How had he gotten into her flat?_ She turned to run; maybe she could lock herself in her room and dial for help. However, when she turned there were three more men of the same trim, fit build blocking her way in every direction. _**This was worse**_**. **

The man at the door twirled something around his gloved index finger. Connor's keys; she could see his little light sabre key ring.

"Connor would very much like the pleasure of your company Miss Maitland," he said charmingly.

They all made their moves at the same time. It wasn't really a fight. Although Abby did cause her share of black eyes, yelps, and bruises, the man holding Connor's keys managed to get an arm around her and pin her arms to her side. His other hand came up to clamp over her mouth.

She caught sight of a white cloth in his hand that had a yellow green stain across it. He held it firmly over her mouth and nose forcing her to breath in the sickly sweet smell of chloroform. Two of the other soldiers grabbed her kicking and thrashing legs. Everything went black.

* * *

Abby was just beginning to wake up as the black clad soldiers were pulling her out of a van, her wrists zip tied behind her back, and into what looked to be an industrial warehouse. As she was half dragged, half pushed through the big main chamber of the warehouse, she looked up and saw Connor staring at her from across the room. He was sitting at a computer, turned around in his chair. He watched her as they took her across the industrial space and into a central hallway on the other side of the room. A few moments later he had been standing in the doorway as the soldiers strapped her down.

* * *

Connor was utterly shocked when the door burst open and a group of soldiers came in dragging a barely conscious Abby through the large room and then off down the center hallway. Connor sat there staring in disbelief his mouth open in abject horror. He knew she had seen him. Their eyes had locked for a brief second and to his absolute disbelief her expression went from one of shock, to hurt, to angered betrayal.

He was almost certain she blamed him for what was happening to her, _hell, he blamed himself as well_, and she must be thinking he was a part of it. _How could she think that?_ He had to go to her. He stood up suddenly and Tom was right there with one hand on Connor's shoulder and a gun in his other hand.

"Sit back down!" he ordered.

"Please, I have to go to her, explain, please."

"No, you have work to do."

"I won't work on this another second until I can see her."

Tom thought for a moment and decided he'd pick his battles when it came to Connor.

"FINE. Look, I'll give you two minutes, and then we come back and finish today's work. You don't move; you don't go in the room; you talk to her from the doorway. I'll be right behind you making sure you follow these guidelines. This is just so that you can see that she has not been harmed. Is that clear?"

"Yes, that's all I want. And I'm staying with her when I'm not working. You want my cooperation, you won't separate us." Tom nodded.

Connor turned and walked toward the middle hallway where he had seen them go. He felt Tom's gun press into the small of his back and he slowed his pace, not wanting to set him off. Tom was being very lenient after all.

He watched utterly dumbfounded as Abby fought wildly against the guards trying to strap her down. He had never felt so powerless in his entire life. He felt his world crumble when she turned her anger on him. He didn't know what to say to get her to calm down. He knew he couldn't bear it though if he had let them gag her. He couldn't watch her be that humiliated, that violated.

So, despite the gun firmly pressed against his back, he spoke up. All he accomplished was for Abby to somewhat stop struggling and for the soldiers to not gag her. He hoped that was enough.

With the gentle pressure of the barrel of the gun against his spine, he let Tom lead him back to the main room. Maybe she just needed some space.

* * *

Abby had eventually drifted off, crying herself into an uneasy, fitful sleep. She awoke with a jolt when she heard the sound of someone moving near her in the dark room. She panicked for a moment when she couldn't move. Cool hands touched her arm and she fought all the more.

"Hey, easy, easy, it's me Abbs. Calm down, let me help."

"Get away from me," she cried, "Don't touch me!" Fear and panic had taken over and her mind, in survival mode, had not registered the familiar voice and touch that came out of the dark. Her breathing was rabbit fast. Her panic threatened to overwhelm her and steal her consciousness as she started to hyperventilate.

"Abby, Abby stop. Let me untie you. Calm down. Please, Abby, give me a chance to explain. You have to know I would never want this, would never hurt you. Please Abby." His hand was on her arm again. He worked quickly, freeing her arms, legs, and then her torso.

She curled away from him into a fetal position.

"Please Abby, let me explain." He put his hand on her arm and she yanked away from him, her terror and panic only slightly beginning to subside.

Tears sprang into his eyes as he completely misconstrued her response. _He would never hurt her; how could she think he would after all they had been through?_

"Fine," he said quietly, "then please just listen. They grabbed me, I dunno, three or four days ago, five at the most. They want me to build something for them. They tried to "persuade" me, which basically meant they hit me a lot, but I wouldn't cooperate. That's when they threatened you, and then they went a step further and actually brought you here. I don't know how they know what they know. But somehow they knew that if they threatened you I would cooperate. "

Abby had started to cry long before he was finished; just listening to his voice had soothed away many of her fears and much of her initial panic. Silent tears trickled down across her nose and into her hair.

In her mind's eye she saw his face covered in the obvious bruises that should have clued her in right off the bat. But she had assumed the worse… about Connor of all people. Connor, who was so gentle towards her, even when she was shutting him down. Connor would never have hurt her; she had known that. Deep in her heart the truth had been there somewhere all along.

As he finished his explanation, a small sob shook her shoulders. Connor laid his hand on her arm tentatively.

"Abby," he said softly.

She brought her hand up and laid it over his. "I'm sorry," she whispered. She still couldn't look at him. _How could she have reacted that way towards him?_ He had always tried to protect her. They had hurt him and she had thought he was working with them. She was upset with herself, terrified and overwhelmed.

She rolled over so fast that it caught Connor off guard. She threw her arms around his neck and buried her tear stained face in his chest. "I'm so sorry. I'm such an idiot. They hurt you? Are you Ok?"

Connor slowly put his arms around her still taken aback by her sudden shift in mood.

"I'm Ok. Nothin' that won't heal."

She looked up at him in the dimness of the light filtering in from around the doorjamb. She reached up and lightly traced her fingers over a bruise on his cheek and then over to the gash above his eye.

He closed his eyes and breathed a deep sigh of relief at her touch, leaning into it.

"What happened?" she asked softly.

"I told you, they tried to 'persuade' me."

"What do they want you to build?"

Connor frowned and his eyebrows furrowed together. "I can't tell you. They are watching and listening." He whispered the last part in her ear while disguising it as a kiss on her temple. "Everything will be OK."

"And after you build it?"

His expression darkened for a second, "I'll think of something. I'll make sure you're safe."

"What 'bout you Connor?"

"I'll figure something out. Right now, I need you to stay calm. They are going to keep you locked up in here. I've convinced them that you won't be a threat and to not keep you tied down. Please, promise me you'll cooperate Abby. These are bad people who are not afraid to use force. They'll hurt either one of us if we take a step out of line. Do you understand?" He had said all of this very quietly and very quickly.

"You're going to leave me here while you work on your mysterious project?"

He nodded, "I'm sorry Abby, it seems your sole purpose for being here is to keep me in check." She nodded once and lay back on the bed.

Connor fetched two pillows from a cabinet for them.

"You're staying here?"

He looked at her, suddenly unsure and sheepish at the same time. "Is that OK?"

"I just didn't think they would let you, that's all. It's fine. I feel a lot safer with… when I'm not by myself."

Connor lay back and joined her.

"You can't help them Connor." Abby whispered. "If you have to build something for them, then just make it look like it works. I dunno, you're brilliant, write in a fail-safe code or something. But, no matter what it is, you can't actually help them."

"I know," He responded somberly. "That's actually not a bad idea. We'll see though."

They were both terrified and each tried to be strong for the other. Abby rested her head on Connor's chest and he put his arm around her. She wrapped her arm across his waist. Connor looked down at her and smiled. He was more than OK with this, but he would give anything for her to **not** be here. Connor's thoughts drifted between Abby sleeping on his chest and worrying over whether or not he could complete the task they had set before him. _How did they know what they knew?_ … He slowly drifted off to sleep.


	4. A Step Out of Line

**A/N: This has already been published over on my LJ page, but this version has been revised. It will be a little darker and more violent. So, if you read it over there, this one's a bit different. Thanks for reading, and as always, please, please, please review.**

******Disclaimer: Primeval and its characters belong to Impossible Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended. **  


**_This would be one of the two chapters that is now accompanied by an M rating for violence._ There is quite a bit of added graphic violence in this chapter. **

**Chapter 4 - A Step Out of Line**

Several days passed as Abby and Connor got used to their new life in captivity. Some of the black clad guards showed up about 7:30 every morning with breakfast for them. They ate quietly while the guards watched. After breakfast, they would leave with Connor, and Abby was left alone in the windowless room for the rest of the day.

Connor got her some books to read and even a Nintendo DS for her to play with, but she was still bored most of the time. She really wasn't a video game person.

She began to look forward to Connor's evening return. She tried to tell herself it was just because she wanted someone to talk to, but she wasn't sure if she was being entirely honest with herself.

This had been their routine for about five days now. But then something changed.

* * *

Connor walked out of the bathroom hallway back towards his desk. He looked up when he heard someone clear his throat. He stopped short as he was met with Mr. Canalla and several soldiers staring back at him. Tom hovered behind them looking worried.

_This couldn't be good_, he thought.

"You've been a very busy, very disobedient hacker, Mr. Temple," Canalla stated smoothly.

"Wha… What ya talking 'bout?" Connor felt his insides turn upside down. He had been trying to contact the ARC, but he hadn't really tried in the last few days. He was too worried he'd be caught and they would hurt Abby.

"Playing stupid is not going to get you anywhere. You are already on thin ice. Do you want to make things worse for yourself? For Abby?"

Connor felt his face flush with anger and fear, "You leave Abby out of it-"

"I think you'll find that I get to decide who's involved in this and who is not. I warned you that you might need some extra motivation to do your job, and it appears that I was right in bringing in Miss Maitland. Perhaps she should be the one to pay for your stupidity."

"NO! I get it. I won't try anything again, I swear. Just please, leave her alone. Don't hurt her."

"Why don't you start by admitting what you have been doing, that could go a long way to mitigating my reaction."

Connor hung his head, he was caught and he knew it. He only hoped that the punishment would not be Abby's death. He looked up and with a shaky voice he admitted to trying to contact the ARC through backdoor channels in their network.

"I don't even know if it worked, and I stopped trying a few days ago. I was worried I'd get caught and that you'd hurt Abby."

"That was probably a just assumption on your part. You know you will have to be punished for violating the rules, of course."

Connor looked up sharply, "Please, it won't happen again. I know I messed up; can't this just be a one-off mistake? Chalk it up to a learning curve of how things work around here?"

"How is anyone supposed to learn, if there are no consequences involved?" He nodded to his soldiers. They seized Connor's arms roughly and held them behind him. One of the soldiers punched him hard in the stomach. Another punched him in the face. He received several more hits to his torso before Mr. Canalla raised his hand indicating they should stop.

"Just… just tell me one… thing," Connor asked, his breathing shallow and labored. He was beginning to shake in fear of what they were going to do to him next. He knew they weren't finished. "How did you… figure out… what I… what I was doing? Thought I... covered… all my tracks."

"You did, electronically, at least to the best of your knowledge and ability. I just planned for your inevitable attempt at outside communication. This whole place is wired with surveillance. Every keystroke you make is documented, even when you are trying to erase them. But who needs keystrokes when I can go back to the video feeds and see screen shots of what you were actually doing. I can read the actual messages you were trying to send to your friends."

Mr. Canalla smiled at Connor and Connor paled visibly. He had made the often-fatal mistake of underestimating his enemies. He wondered how badly he would have to pay for it now.

They took him to one of the support columns in the middle of the room. There was a hook about eight feet up protruding out from the pylon. Connor glanced over to a nearby table and saw the long thick leather whip coiled up on it. He started to struggle against the well-muscled guards that held him.

"NO, LET ME GO. I SWEAR I'M NOT GOING TO TRY ANYTHING AGAIN, PLEASE! YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS. STOP, PLEASE!" Connor yelled, his voice raising an octave in panic. He was utterly and completely terrified. _Were they serious? They were really going to whip him? This couldn't possibly be happening._

"Mr. Temple, I suggest you calm down and start cooperating or things are going to get much worse for you and Miss Maitland." Connor stopped struggling. He didn't want to give them any more reason to hurt Abby. _What if they decided to whip her too?_ He couldn't have that. He stood still, trembling the whole while, but not resisting as the soldiers took off his shirt and bound his wrists in front of him with thick leather straps. A chain was attached to the restraints around his wrists and secured to the hook above his head.

Connor let out a loud gasp of pain as his arms were yanked upwards. They pulled him up until he was on the tips of his toes facing the pillar. One of the guards forced a knotted piece of cloth, just like what he'd been gagged with when they had first brought him here, into his mouth and tied it painfully tight behind his head. Connor flushed with humiliation as a tear slipped down his cheek. The man punched him in his left kidney. He grunted in pain.

Mr. Canalla stepped up next to him. "Consider it a way of keeping you from embarrassing yourself. This way you can't beg like a little girl for us to stop. I suggest that you bite down on that knot. It might help… a little."

He turned back to his soldiers and then took a seat at a nearby desk to observe the proceedings.

Connor watched out of the corner of his eye as one of the bigger men took hold of the whip and began to swing it around, getting a feel for it in his hand. It was obvious he knew his way around the implement. Connor whimpered softly from behind his gag. He wiped the tear off his cheek on his arm. He had to try and be brave. He didn't want to give them the satisfaction of breaking him.

The soldier with the whip walked up behind Connor and ran the whip lightly down his spine. Connor shivered involuntarily.

"How many?" the man asked.

"Twenty should be a good round number, that should be enough for him to get the point." Mr. Canalla responded.

Connor strained and struggled at this in protest, but nothing would work.

"Mr. Canalla, sir, I don't think this is necessary. He's terrified as it is. I don't think he'll try anything again. He's already said as much." Tom beseeched.

"Tom, your objection is duly noted, but overruled. He's made his bed, now let's let him lie in it. If you don't approve, I can have you reassigned. What is your decision?"

"No, sir, I wish to stay."

"Good, then carry on lieutenant. Twenty lashes."

Connor knew he should relax, but he couldn't. He tensed every muscle in his body against the oncoming pain.

The first lash fell with a sickeningly loud thwack. It tore a white-hot gash across Connor's back from his right shoulder to his left hip. Connor tried his best, but could not stop the scream that was dragged from his lips. He twisted and writhed. The next lash fell in an almost perfectly parallel line about two inches above the first. Another scream. The third searing stripe went almost vertical down his back about an inch off to the right of his spine.

Connor continued to writhe and scream as he hung suspended at the end of the chain. He couldn't stop the tears that began to flow down his cheeks and he didn't have the energy to try and wipe them away as his back was torn open over and over. Every thought geared toward finding enough breath to fuel the next scream. He vacillated between closing his eyes tight shut and having them blown wide open in agony and panic. Eventually he simply could not keep them open anymore. It was easier to concentrate on breathing and dealing with the pain if he tried to shut out what was happening to him.

Tom watched the horrible scene playing out before him. He was a soldier, hardened in battle, but this bothered him. The young man had obviously seen the error of his ways, so why was he being put through this. Something about this wasn't right. He watched as the fourth and fifth lash landed horizontally across Connor's pale shoulders.

Despite his slight build Connor was wiry and muscular. Tom could see his torn muscles bunching in an effort to anticipate where the next blow was going to land.

His knees gave out on the sixth stroke landed across the small of his back. It was probably a good thing he had relieved himself right before all this, or he would probably have wet himself at that point. The soldier carrying out the beating, Lieutenant Dayton, stepped up behind the lad and held a packet of smelling salts up under his nose. Connor jerked away and managed to get his legs under him again. Dayton stepped back and continued.

The seventh stroke came at an opposing angle to the rest, diagonally from left shoulder to right hip. Tom tried to tune out the screams that echoed around the cavernous room. The eighth, ninth, and tenth lashes all hit on about the same angle as the seventh diagonally across his body.

Dayton was experienced enough to ensure that each lash landed in it's own space across Connor's body, maximizing the surface area of the boy's back being abused. Each one landed precisely, with minimal overlap. Dayton handed the whip over to another soldier who would administer the final ten lashes.

The soldier took aim and landed in quick succession three parallel horizontal gashes across the middle of Connor's back at the lower part of his ribs. The fourteenth stroke was also horizontal. It fell immediately above the waistband of his boxers, which hung just above the line of his jeans. Tom took in the sight of Connor's mangled bloody back and felt like he was going to be sick. There were still six more lashes to go. Tom swallowed hard and took a deep breath.

Connor's legs had given out again, and even though he was conscious he didn't seem to be able to find the strength this time to pull himself up. He hung limply in his bonds, but continued to sob and scream. Lashes fifteen and sixteen landed just to the left and almost directly on his spine respectively.

There was no need now for precision; his back was covered in bloody gashes. Number seventeen fell with a wet squelching sound high on his shoulders horizontally. Tom felt blood splash onto his cheek as the guard flicked the whip back for number eighteen. It landed from the right of Connor's neck down to his left hip.

Tom wiped the blood away as he swallowed the bile that rose in his throat. Connor's screams had turned from loud and gut wrenching when they had first started, to the high pitched keening of a wounded animal. Now, as nineteen and twenty fell across his lower back again, they were almost nothing more than horse cries of agony.

Connor was shaking and still tensing for more blows. The poor kid had obviously lost count.

"Tom," Mr. Canalla called him out of his thoughts. "Get him cleaned up and his shirt back on. No medical attention. He needs to think about what he's done, and I think we'll pay Miss Maitland a visit as well." Tom nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He could tell that Connor had obviously not registered what he had said about Abby. He was still delirious with pain.

Tom walked up behind him and loosened the chain that held Connor up. He took his weight as he lowered him slowly to the ground, gently rolling him onto his side so that he leaned slightly forward. Connor's breathing continued to come in quick hitching gasps as he sobbed in pain. Tom undid the gag in his mouth. "It's over Conn, they're not going to hit you anymore. It's over."

He undid the leather straps around his wrists, massaging them lightly to get the blood flowing again. Then, he took a spare cloth from his bag and wiped away some of the blood as carefully as he could. Connor still cried out in agony. He helped him put his shirt back on and secretly gave him three painkillers.

"Swallow these, quickly," he whispered to him, "hurry, or we'll both be in more trouble." Connor had some difficulty swallowing them because he didn't have any water and his mouth and throat were dry from the screaming and the gag. He managed to get them down before anyone noticed though.

Tom looked over and saw Mr. Canalla and Dayton conferring. Dayton had exchanged the whip for a three-foot long two-inch wide leather strap. Tom didn't have to hear the conversation to know what was going on. They were going to beat Abby as well. He looked down at Connor, his eyes were shut and his breathing was still shaky. He continued to sob quietly while he sucked in air trying to get control of himself again.

"I'll be right back," Tom told Connor.

Tom walked over to Mr. Canalla and Dayton. "You can't do this. She's done nothing wrong and he's already suffered enough. Look at him."

"I think you are too attached to the little prick," Dayton shot back at him.

"Silence, Dayton, you have it in for him as it is. Which is just as ridiculous. I know you're a sadistic bastard, but tone it down a little so I can think." Dayton clamped his mouth shut, knowing when not to push his boss, for now.

"Tom you will help escort Connor back to his room where you will stand by and witness Miss Maitland's punishment." He held up a hand when Tom looked like he was going to protest. "She is only going to be given fifteen lashes with the leather strap. She won't suffer any permanent damage. Dayton here is going to administer the first ten straps and then he'll trade off just like with Mr. Temple. The only other choice you have is to be completely reassigned and you know how much I hate having to reassign people. If you wish for Mr. Temple to remain in your care, you will do this."

Tom nodded in compliance knowing that if they reassigned him, Dayton would most likely become Connor's handler and that wouldn't be good for anyone. He walked back over to Connor intending to help get him up on his feet. Two of Dayton's men had already beaten him there and had his arms twisted painfully behind his back as they began carrying him towards the middle hall to the room he shared with Abby. Tom followed along behind them. _This was going to be bad._

* * *

The place was usually quiet, but today Abby heard shouting. It was all muffled, but she could clearly make out Connor's voice rising to protest something; a slight panicked edge in it. She could hear commotion, but no real definition to give her a clue to what was going on. Next she heard a sound that made her blood run cold. There was a piercing thwack followed by a sharp cry.

And then it repeated over and over again. Thwack, cry; Thwack, cry; thwack, cry.

They were beating someone and she had a horrible feeling that it was Connor. She sank down on to the bed and rocked back and forth while she half tried to count the repetitions and half tried to shut the sound out.

She was able to count at least 15 of these repetitions, but there were probably more in all actuality. She wasn't sure.

About a half an hour later the door burst open and some of the soldiers came dragging Connor through it and into the room. They **had** beaten him and her heart broke. He had blood all over him, and it dripped onto the floor it little red flashes.

He looked at her weakly and tried to smile, "Hey Abbs." One of the escorts hit him hard across the mouth to silence him and more blood blossomed from the fresh gash. Connor merely grunted in response as his head dropped forward.

A man in a pin striped suit and clearly in charge strode through the door behind Connor and his escorts. He looked Abby up and down then turned and addressed Connor.

"Perhaps you do not realize the gravity of the situation, or the consequences for your little stunt today."

Several more guards of the big and burly type came into the room. They grabbed Abby and zip tied her wrists in front of her. She winced and gasped as the plastic was pulled painfully tight around her wrists and dug into her flesh.

"NO!" Connor cried out, suddenly alarmed. "Leave her alone. She's nothin' to do with this. With what happened, what I did. Please."

"Oh, it doesn't work that way I'm afraid. You see that's why she's here. To help you see that stupid, careless actions on your part have consequences, consequences others have to pay."

"No! Please, don't. You've already got my attention. I get it. It won't happen again. Please, don't hurt her."

"Connor, what's going on?" Abby's voice rang with terror and confusion.

"Don't worry," Mr. Canalla said to Connor, "We won't use the same one we used on you. For now, we won't leave any permanent damage."

"CONNOR?" Abby cried.

The soldiers spun her around and shoved her forward so that she lay across their small bed. They pinned her bound arms down so that she was face down with her arms stretched over her head. They pulled her shirt up revealing her nearly bare back, showing her white bra strap.

She could hear Connor screaming at them; begging them to let her go; not to do this. But it was all to no avail. She heard the slight whistle the leather strap made as it flew through the air and she squeezed her eyes shut as she realized what was about to happen. She felt the flash of white hot searing pain strike across her back and she cried out involuntarily.

The thwack of the leather strap echoed off the walls of the sparse room over and over again. The sound mingled with her screams, which were a mirror of Connor's. She writhed, squirmed and bucked against the men holding her down. But they were much stronger than her. Some of them laughed as they watched the ordeal; their tone suggested they were clearly enjoying themselves.

She tried to be still after the first few lashes. She didn't want to give them any more satisfaction in what they were doing. Still, with each lash, her body jerked as involuntary shudders ran through her. She couldn't manage to stifle her screams though, much as she tried.

Connor watched in horror as each strike left a livid bright red welt across her back. Something inside him broke at the sight of it. He fought and strained against the soldiers that held him back, but he knew it was useless. He knew it was all his fault. All he could do was stare on in horror.

He wasn't even aware that he was screaming along with her, the pain in his own body forgotten for the moment. His screams eventually subsided into gut wrenching sobs that shook his whole body.

When they finished, 15 stripes later, and let Abby go, they let Connor go at the same time. Before she could slump to the floor, he had her gently cradled in his arms.

"You bastard," was all he could say. He had his arms wrapped around her protectively, trying to soothe her. Fresh tears threatened to overflow. He knew he didn't have the strength to stop them from snatching her right out of his grasp if they so chose. That scared him more than anything.

"Perhaps you'll think twice next time you get such a bright idea." Mr. Canalla responded coolly.

"It wasn't necessary. You already had my cooperation. Why?" Connor glared at him angrily. Tears still wet on his cheeks.

Mr. Canalla knelt down in front of him. He reached up to brush Abby's hair off the side of her face. She flinched away turning her face further into Connor's chest, her grip on his bloody shirt tightening. Connor pulled her closer to him defensively. He could feel her shaking convulsively, still sobbing, but almost silently.

Mr. Canalla took something out of his pocket, a fingernail clipper. He reached up and clipped the zip tie that bound Abby's wrists. She didn't react at all.

"I need you to understand how serious I am. I also need you to be aware that Miss Maitland's fate rests with you, Mr. Temple. **You** are responsible for this. Keep that in mind, because next time the consequences will be much stiffer and more permanent. Do you understand me?" His voice and gaze were ice cold. He stared straight into Connor's eyes.

Connor nodded silently. Most of his anger replaced by terror at what he saw in the cruel man's stare. He started to shake involuntarily and Mr. Canalla smiled at the reaction.

"Now, I think we understand each other. Take the rest of the day off, Mr. Temple." He stood up and exited the room, the rest of the soldiers departing with him.

The door snapped shut and they heard the click of the lock engaging. A visceral sob broke passed Abby's lips while Connor released the breath he had not realized he had been holding. When he went to breathe back in, he found he was sobbing again, right along with Abby. They stayed that way for a while too shocked and in too much pain to do anything else.

Connor got control of himself first, which was a bit unusual, but so was their situation.

"Abby. Abby, sweetheart, open your eyes." He said gently. "Abby please look at me." She hadn't opened her eyes since they'd started beating her. He shook her gently.

"Abby, They're gone. Ok. Alright?" She opened her eyes slowly, just a small flutter at first, but then they were open completely and she stared back at him. Her eyes were pink and flushed, but he could tell she was calming down too.

It did little to reassure him. After all, this **was** his fault, just like Mr. Canalla had said. A few new tears leaked down his face. "I'm so sorry," he sobbed anew. "It was such a stupid idea… I… I didn't think… not this… I'm so so sorry."

"What happened?" She asked quietly. Connor took a deep, shuddering breath to reacquire control of his emotions.

"I tried to send a message. It was such a stupid idea. I had been working on how to do it since before they brought you here. I thought I had covered my tracks well enough. I didn't count on them playing back through the camera footage and looking at the screen shots. I should have. How could I have been so dumb? I'm so sorry Abby, if I had known…"

They both had fresh tears now and Connor resumed rocking her gently.

Abby reached up and touched his cheek. Her thumb wiping away the latest tear. "You couldn't have known. No one could have. No one would think that they would do this. I mean, no normal person would respond to what you did like this. It's not your fault Conn. **They** did this, not you."

Connor heard her words, but he didn't believe them.

"Let's get off the floor. I need to have a look at your injuries, see if there is anything we can do about them." His tone was even, too even. It scared Abby a little. There was something even more broken about Connor than usual.

They stood up from the floor, Connor making hissing noises through his teeth the whole while.

He turned Abby around and gently pulled up the back of her shirt. Red-purple bruises and welts were already forming in horrible crisscross patterns all over her back. But, true to Mr. Canalla's word, there were no breaks in the skin. There would be no permanent damage. This time.

That didn't stop more tears rushing back into Connor's eyes and slipping silently down his cheeks. His fingerless gloved hands curled into fists.

He released them after a moment and ran one cool finger delicately along one red stripe. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.

Abby shivered. But, surprisingly, a good shiver. _What was wrong with her? _ She was never emotional or over sensitive. She needed to take charge. She turned towards Connor. "Turn around, let me see."

So she **had** picked up on his hisses of pain. He had been trying to keep that quiet. "No. Honestly, I'll be fine."

"Connor. Turn. Around." He lowered his head and obeyed. She gingerly pulled up the back of his shirt, which was already stiff with dried blood, and immediately sucked in a quick breath. Now she understood where all the blood had come from.

Where she only had bruises and welts, Connor had swollen, bloody, purpling stripes crisscrossing his back. _How had he kept to only hissing in pain? He must be in agony. _

"Oh God, Connor. We have to get this cleaned up. You could get an infection." She dropped his shirt and turned for the door.

"Abby, what're ya doin'? Connor asked, his voice raising an octave.

Abby ignored him and banged on the door to get the attention of the guard standing outside. The door opened to reveal a surly looking man glowering threateningly down at Abby. Abby angrily stared back, "He needs medical attention. A first aid kit at least."

"No, no medical." He made to close the door. Abby pushed back in order to keep it open while she stated her case.

"Look, if you want him to do whatever it is you brought him here for, then I'm guessing you don't want him to get sick because those gashes got infected." The guard made no indication that he was changing his mind, but he stopped pushing at the door.

Abby plunged ahead, "I'm not asking for pain relievers. You're all too monstrous for that. I just need antiseptic or something to sterilize it, and bandages, maybe a needle and thread for the worst of it, or at least butterfly bandages. Please." She added the last part begrudgingly. He nodded and closed the door. Her fierceness had convinced him.

She turned back to Connor. "We need to get that shirt off before it sticks completely to your back. Come into the bathroom."

She led him to the bathroom and had him kneel down and lean over the edge of the tub into the shower. She checked the water temperature before turning on the showerhead.

She gently guided the water over the back of his shirt. He winced and small gasps of pain escaped him as she worked to loosen the shirt from the portions that had already hardened to his back. She slowly worked from the bottom up until she could pull his shirt over his head.

It was slow and painful work for both of them.

Connor didn't say much. He reddened a little when he finally stood up in front of her dripping wet and shirtless. It had been a while since he'd run around in his boxers in front of her. _At what point had he become so modest around her?_

She felt her heart break a little more as she looked at the fresh bruises that covered his chest and abdomen. The earlier bruises were almost gone, so these new ones stood out fresh and livid.

She handed him a towel as the guard returned to the door.

He provided her with a well-stocked first aid kit, no needle and thread, but lots of butterfly bandages, and a blue container of Mineral Ice. She looked up at him and he looked away sheepishly. "For the bruises," was all he said.

"Thank you," Abby replied, genuinely grateful.

"Don't tell anyone, OK?"

"OK."

The door closed and locked and Abby went back to Connor who was lying face down on the bed and dropped the kid down next to him. She went back to the sink in their little bathroom and filled one cup with clean water and another one with warm soapy water.

She grabbed a washcloth and as gently as possible she washed each of the gashes that now striped his back, wincing with every quiet gasp or low, agonized moan that left him. "Sorry," she repeated over and over.

"It's Ok," or "It's fine," his only response.

She noticed each time he discreetly moved the back of his hand across his face to wipe the tears away. She guessed he was trying to hide it from her, so she said nothing. It was all she could do to keep her own tears at bay. She tried to ignore the way his breathing hitched at random intervals if she accidentally applied too much pressure.

She could count twenty separate lashes across his back. Once she had them washed and the antiseptic ointment applied to each of them, she worked on butterfly bandaging each of them and then arranging a gauze dressing over the whole area.

This took about an hour, and Connor remained quiet under her steady, gentle touch. Too lost in his own sorrow and thoughts to talk. He just seemed numb. Not physically, he could feel everything very clearly on a physical level. But, emotionally, he was in extreme shock.

"Oh, Connor," Abby sighed at last, her voice full of emotion, as she finished with the bandages. There was nothing else for her to say at the moment. She gently reached up and brushed his hair out of his face. She could tell he had been crying though his face was currently dry.

"Come on, sit up, I need to check the rest of you out." She blushed all of a sudden as she realized what she had said.

"I mean, well, you know what I mean. Just sit up OK."

Connor laughed in spite of himself, gave her a little smile and then sat up to accommodate her. He winced as the movement pulled at the bandages.

She cleaned the blood off his face where they had hit him, and then gently kissed his split lip. Connor shut his eyes and shuttered; wincing again as the movement sent fresh waves of pain across his back. "Sorry," Abby said sheepishly. He smiled back.

She picked up the jar of mineral ice and began to apply it to each bruise he'd received. These ranged from his ribs, across his chest and up onto his face. She felt gingerly along his ribs for anything that might be a fracture. She didn't think that she felt any this time around.

His flesh tingled under her touch and small pleasant tremors went through him as her hands traced across his rib cage and chest.

She looked up at him noticing the goose bumps that appeared when she touched him. His eyes were closed and despite everything he looked peaceful.

"Feel better?" she asked. He nodded and opened his eyes. "You should go to sleep," she said, "you need to rest."

"Not yet. We haven't really assessed your injuries."

"Connor, I'm fine, especially when compared to you. I'm just going to be a bit sore for a few days. You're going to carry those scars with you for the rest your-"

"Shhh." He put one finger to her lips. "Abby. Sit. Still." He used the same tone she used earlier when she told him to turn around. He took the jar from her hands and without saying anything else, he leaned in and kissed her gently at first and then more passionately, all the desperation of their situation pouring into **that** kiss.

And then he was gone, pulling away from her. Abby, who had not even realized that she had closed her eyes opened them suddenly. Connor looked so sad.

"This is my fault Abbs. And don't say it isn't. It is. I don't want to talk about it now though, OK. We can deal with it later. I want to say something else." He took a long pause and a deep shuttering breath. "I love you Abby, I always have." That was all he said.

He got up and walked around the bed until he was behind her. He sat down slowly, trying not to jar his own wounds.

He carefully pulled up the back of Abby's shirt; his breath catching as he took in the sight of her mottled back once again. His hands were shaking as he reached out and undid the clasp of her bra strap. She glanced back at him and he looked at her apologetically.

She nodded her approval so he continued, pushing the material out of the way. She slipped the straps off her shoulder, keeping herself covered expertly and took her bra completely off.

His hands continued to shake as he unscrewed the cap to the mineral ice. He shook even more as he began to apply it to the bruises on her back. This was not what he wanted for her. He wanted so desperately to be near her, but not like this. Not with so much danger involved, so much pain. _If he had only cooperated in the first place…_

But he couldn't have known they would go to such lengths, could he? He knew they were bad, he warned Abby about that on her first day here, but he had underestimated them.

His fingers continued to gently rub the analgesic into each bruise across her back. She seemed to visibly relax in front of him, and she sighed contentedly. How long had he desired to touch her, to caress her smooth skin just as he was doing now? But everything was so messed up; everything had gone so wrong. At least she would not have any permanent scars to deal with.

He dropped that train of thought; he couldn't deal with that yet.

Connor continued to think to himself. He would have to keep his wits about him if he was going to figure out a way to get Abby and himself out of here safely. Or at least get Abby out safely. He was really rather shocked that they had caught him. He was even more shocked at how they had responded.

He refocused his attention on Abby's bruised back. Yes, he would definitely need to watch himself. He couldn't risk them hurting her again. As he finished he screwed the lid back on; his hands steady now. He pulled her shirt back down. "Feel better?" He asked imitating her tone from before and smiling weakly at her.

They were both incredibly fatigued. They lay down next to each other, Connor on his stomach and Abby on her side so she could snuggle next to him.

Neither of them slept well that night, despite their exhaustion. Abby's back hurt, as did Connor's, but Connor lay awake for a long time feeling guilty for what had happened and trying to figure out a way to succeed at his task without them knowing he had succeeded. He wasn't sure how to do that yet, and if they were going to get out of this alive, he needed his plan to work.


	5. I Don't Wanna Talk About It

**A/N: This has already been published over on my LJ page, but this version has been revised. It will be a little darker and more violent. So, if you read it over there, this one's a bit different. There are two chapters that will have an M rating because of the changes and additions, but most of it will be T. Thanks for reading, and as always, please, please, please review.**

******Disclaimer: Primeval and its characters belong to Impossible Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended. **  


**Chapter 5 - I Don't Wanna Talk About It**

As the next few days blurred by, things became very different between Connor and Abby. His, "We'll talk about it later," grew into, "I don't want to talk about it," which then stretched into nearly absolute silence on his part.

Every night he would return to their room, and they'd share dinner, which was usually a rather bland sandwich or a soup of some kind. After dinner, Abby would redress his wounds and he'd reapply the mineral ice to her back. She asked him once or twice about the fresh bruises he would come back with, but he would never tell her what was going on. He just said it didn't matter.

She had told him that he couldn't take a shower until the cuts on his back were really on the mend. He hadn't been happy about this, but had agreed to only sponge bathe himself at the bathroom sink for the foreseeable future.

Sometimes Abby would wake in the night to Connor whimpering in his sleep obviously in the clutches of a nightmare. Sometimes Connor would wake to the sounds of Abby thrashing through a nightmare. They tried to sooth each other, but mostly they just tried to go back to sleep and each desperately hoped that what they saw in their dreams would stay there. But there were no guarantees of that. Not here.

Abby tried getting him to open up, but he refused. He changed the subject. He pretended he hadn't heard her. He did anything he could to avoid talking about what had happened and what was obviously still going on during the day. If she pushed, he merely rolled over and went to sleep, or, at least he pretended to sleep. If she kept pushing he stopped talking altogether.

Sometimes they'd read, or Connor would work on notes for his secret project. All in all though, Connor had shut down.

She figured he was worried, or maybe he just needed some space. So, she gave it to him. She dropped it and assumed that when he was ready to talk, he would.

* * *

It had been five days since they had beaten Abby and him. Connor sat at his workstation busily typing away at a piece of code for his project. It was nearing the end of the day and he was dog-tired. He also desperately needed to relieve himself.

He motioned to Tom that he was going to make a quick trip to the toilet. Tom nodded his response and Connor headed off down the nearest hallway.

Upon exiting the toilet, he ran smack into one of the soldiers, upsetting the hot coffee the man had just poured. Connor looked up to apologize to the man and froze.

This was one of the big burly men who had helped to whip him and Abby and he had also taken part in torturing him when he was first brought here. He had roughed Connor up a few times more in the last few days.

He was rather cruel and seemed to enjoy taking it out on Connor whenever he got the chance. Connor avoided him as much as possible. Seeing him now, all pissed off and covered in hot coffee, both angered and terrified Connor.

"I… I… umm… I'm sorry. I didn't see you."

The soldier grabbed Connor by the throat and shoved him against the wall. Connor cried out involuntarily, the wounds on his back breaking open in protest to the sudden sharp pressure. He could feel his shoulder blades grinding against the hard concrete wall. This was immediately followed up with a bash across Connor's face, instantly blackening his left eye.

"You get in my way again you little prick, and I'll beat you again until you can't even scream anymore." Dayton, his name was Dayton. At least, Connor noticed, that's what his uniform said.

When he spoke, he didn't shout, he crooned. His voice was low and silky smooth. Connor shuddered. Dayton poured the rest of his hot coffee down the back of Connor's shoulder, letting it run over the already sensitive gashes. Connor winced and ground his teeth together; he was determined not to utter a sound despite how much the almost boiling hot coffee stung.

"Connor?" came Tom's voice from the main room. It was clear that he was heading towards the hall.

Connor looked up at the big man in front of him. Dayton smiled down at him.

"The good doctor's lookin' out for your best interest I guess. Seems his little dog's been missing too long." He leaned closer into Connor's face, increasing the pressure on Connor's throat until he could hardly breath.

"Miss Maitland doesn't have a protector does she? She's entirely alone **all** day long. I bet she'd like some company. Maybe I could go and keep her entertained for a few hours, huh. What ya think eh?"

Connor paled visibly, again both with fear and with anger. Anger won out. A deep desire to protect Abby at all costs coursed through him. He shoved back against Dayton, feebly at first, and then with more force.

"You leave Abby alone. My cooperation is conditional on her continuing to not be unnecessarily harmed. You don't touch her." Connor's voice was a little louder, but he still wasn't shouting. He **was** too scared to raise his voice to this man, but he had to make his point clear.

Dayton raised his fist to hit Connor again. Connor shrank back, turning his head slightly and closing his eyes, his arms coming up instinctively to protect himself.

"Oi, Dayton, what are you doing. Stop that right now. You know you're not supposed to beat on him like that. How many times do I have to tell you? Now piss off before I report you... again." Tom came lumbering down the hall towards them, his hand on his sidearm.

Dayton lowered his fist and reached around and grabbed the back of Connor's neck. He gave him a squeeze so hard Connor knew he would have bruises and said, "Mr. Temple here and I were just having a friendly conversation, weren't we?" He looked down at Connor. Connor looked back at him, then at Tom, and made a quick decision.

He looked straight into Tom's face, "He threatened Abby because I accidentally knocked his coffee about."

Dayton's hands moved lightening fast, from Connor's neck to his hair. He yanked back so hard that the crown of Connor's head smacked into the wall behind him. Connor crumpled to the floor, one of his hands clutching at his head the other reaching out to steady himself.

Tom drew his weapon on Dayton, "I said that's enough. Move on Lieutenant or I'll do more than just have you reassigned."

"Just having a bit of a laugh, wasn't I. No harm done. Mostly." He stalked off out of the hallway.

Tom knelt down next to Connor, "Are you OK?"

"No I'm not bloody OK," Connor spat back. "I'm tired, I'm sore, and that bloke is ALWAYS on me. That's the third time this week that he's cornered me like that. And if it's not him, it's one of those like him."

"Look, I'll try to do a better job looking out for you. They're not supposed to be pounding on you like that. Just try to avoid the big ones eh."

"Ever since the whipping…"

"I'll speak to Mr. Canalla," Tom cut him off. "I'll have him reassigned. And, I'll make sure that no one goes near Abby. That's what you're really worried about innit?"

Connor nodded. He could feel the huge goose egg he was going to have rising on the top of his head. He knew he was lucky it wasn't worse.

"Come on. I think it's closing time anyway." Tom helped lift Connor off the floor. "Hang on, let me look at your back, just a quick check. I know Abby's been taking care of it, and you're not supposed to have any actual medical attention, but let me see, just this once."

Connor gingerly pulled his shirt up and turned around. There was a mass of fresh blood oozing into the dressing where he had been slammed against the wall and most of his left side was covered with the now cooled coffee. Connor could still feel a slight burning sting on that side of his back.

Connor heard Tom gulp. "Miss Maitland has certainly done an excellent job given the circumstances." He had pulled one corner of the bandage away to examine her work. He gently put it back in place and let Connor's shirt fall back down.

"You'll…" Tom cleared his throat his voice a bit rougher than normal, "You'll want to make sure she changes that tonight, and no showering."

"I know, I'm already restricted to just sponging off. It's horrible."

"Come on, she'll be expecting you."

Tom walked him back through the main room and on to the quarters Connor shared with Abby. Tom was much more quiet than normal. Connor thought Tom's mood had shifted when he had showed him the stripes across his back. Maybe Tom wasn't as hard as he pretend he was. Connor wasn't sure. He just wanted to see that Abby was indeed safe.

As soon as the door opened and he could see Abby rising up off the bed to come greet him, relief so intense it threw him off guard washed over him. He crossed quickly to her and wrapped his arms around her. He pulled her to him so tightly she gasped. He felt like he couldn't get her close enough to him.

"Connor, what's wrong? What's happened?" Her voice was muffled due to the fact that her face was buried almost too forcefully in his chest.

Connor took a deep breath and released her. "Nothing's wrong, everything's fine, I'm just glad to see you today."

She reached up and touched his newly blackened eye. "No, it's not Conn. Please talk to me. Stop shutting me out. Please." Her voice was full of a quiet desperation.

Connor looked up, took a deep breath, and his eye caught sight of the camera that was always watching them. The weight that had been about to come off his shoulders by letting Abby in crashed back down onto him.

"I'm fine Abby, just leave it with me, alright. Nothing's going on that you need to worry about."

"I'm worried about **you**, Conn. Stop…"

"I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT, ABBY!" he shouted back at her. "Just leave it alone." He pushed passed her and headed for the bathroom.

"Where are you going," she called after him her voice shaky as she fought back the tears.

"I need to think, and I need a shower."

"Connor, you can't…"

"Abby, just stop." He slammed the door shut behind him.

Abby sank back down on the bed and buried her face in her hands. She couldn't help it. She started to cry. Why was he being like this? Why did it seem like he was angry with her? Hadn't they both suffered enough in the last few weeks? Why couldn't they use that to help each other be stronger? Why was he pulling away and leaving her alone even though he was right here? Hadn't he said he loved her?

Her head spun with hurt, frustration, and fear. She was always afraid here, afraid and alone. She felt alone now more than ever. She heard the shower start.

* * *

Connor heard her start to cry. He stood facing the door, his head leaning against it with one hand resting on it as well. He hadn't meant to react that way. He didn't want to hurt her anymore. He was just so scared and angry. He worried about her all the time as it was, and Dayton's threat had sent him over the edge.

He didn't even notice the tears that had started to come down his cheeks until he felt one of the drops tickling his chin before falling to the floor. He reached up and hastily wiped them away, turned around and started the shower.

As carefully as possible, with only a few quiet whimpers of pain, he pulled his shirt off.

He didn't care that he wasn't supposed to shower. He just wanted to feel clean. He wanted the water to wash everything away. He knew it wouldn't but he couldn't resist the idea of trying. He'd try anything at this point to relieve the tension and stress that seemed to always be pressing down on him these days.

He undid his belt and then stripped the rest of his clothes off. He did his best to try and remove the bandages on his back, but he failed miserably. He managed to peel it back about halfway before the angle became impossible. He gave up and stepped into the tub anyway.

Wincing and grinding his teeth against the stinging of the hot water on the still raw gashes on his back, he forced himself to stand still. Within a few moments the bandages came completely free. He bent down, grabbed the wad of coffee stained mesh and tossed it into the trashcan.

He turned around to face the stream of water and leaned his head into it. The warm water set the knot on his head throbbing again. He ignored it and let the water wash his hair into his face. He let the tears run freely down his cheeks since the water hid it all anyway.

The water couldn't wash away the sobs that began to shake his shoulders though. For a few interminable seconds he had seen, in his mind's eye, exactly what Dayton was capable of doing to Abby. The brutal images conjured by his imagination were almost worse than being made to watch while she was beaten.

Waves of helplessness crashed over him and he shook all the more. He hadn't even been able to look at her a few minutes ago without that imagery flashing through his mind. He had to get control of himself. If he really was going to protect her, he had to get out of this dark place in which his encounter with Dayton had left him.

But he didn't know how. He didn't know if his plan to get them home would work. He didn't know if he could handle the pressure of everything being on **him**. He didn't know if he could protect Abby, let alone save her. All of this swelled up and quickly overwhelmed him as if he was drowning.

Connor sank down to the floor of the shower. Despite the pain, he leaned back against the wall facing the faucet. He wrapped his arms around his knees and leaned his head down. Everything seemed so hopeless he almost couldn't breathe.

He didn't notice the water progressively getting colder, moving from warm to cool, to outright cold. He didn't hear the small knock on the door, nor Abby calling his name. Everything was soundless and numb.

His head snapped up though when the door opened and Abby poked her head in.

"Abby, I'm naked, what ya doin'?" He could see her through the clear shower curtain and automatically tried to cover himself.

Abby was studiously looking at the floor; she didn't want to make this anymore complicated than it already was. Not yet anyway. "Connor, I know you're not alright and I know that you don't want to talk, but you have to. You need to. I need you to. Here," she turned off the freezing water and handed him a towel. "You're going to give yourself hypothermia if you stay in there any longer."

Connor covered himself with the towel but made no move to get out of the tub. She sat down tentatively on the edge of the tub next to him. He sniffed, but didn't look up at her.

She put her hand on his head unknowingly touching right where it had been bashed on the wall. He stiffened and tensed away from her.

"Oh, Connor," she whispered softly, "I wish you would let me in. Tell me what's going on. You can't carry this all on your own. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. We're in this together, whether you like it or not. You're kind of stuck with me." Connor still didn't look up. "I know I've never said it, but I love you too and it hurts worse than being whipped when you shut me out like this."

There was a sharp intake of breath from Connor and he looked up at her. His eyes were puffy and red rimmed, glistening slightly. His face was still covered in water droplets from the shower, so his tears were still invisible, but the water couldn't hide everything.

"Abby, I didn't mean to hurt you, I just hate that you're here. Wait, that's not what I meant. I mean I wish you weren't here, I wish you were safe."

"But I **am** here Connor. Please stop shutting me out all the time. I don't think I can make it through this on my own. I need you to be here with me."

"I am here. I'm just so worried all the time, and so angry, and so… terrified. This whole situation is so screwed up."

"What happened **today**, Connor? Just start there. We can deal with everything else later."

"I don't want to worry you."

"I'm already worried, so that's not really a good excuse for keeping me in the dark is it?" She looked down at him and noticed the bruises forming on the back of his neck and across the front of his throat. She knew exactly what they were. An ex-boyfriend had left lines like that across her shoulders once. She'd kicked him were it counts and broke off the relationship, but she guessed that Connor had not fought back today.

Connor blew out a puff of air. "Some of the soldiers have just been giving me a hard time lately, that's all."

"Connor, this" she reached down and touched his throat, "this is more than just 'a hard time.'"

Connor leaned his head back against the wall. "If… if I tell you… please don't think less of me. Everything I have and haven't done it because I… I just want to keep you as safe as possible. Ok?"

"Just tell me Connor."

Connor started recounting all the events of the last few days. He even told her a little about what they had done to him before she joined him. He told her about his fear of not being able to accomplish his task or his plan for getting them home safely. He told her everything except exactly what his task was and what his plan was.

He watched as her eyes watered up and then the tears spilled over onto her cheeks. He watched as she moved from sorrow to anger and then on to compassion. The changes were quite impressive… and attractive. He was suddenly very aware that he was only wearing a towel.

He cleared his throat, shifted his position to make sure he was properly covered, and continued on until he got through his encounter with Dayton today. He left out the part about him threatening her though.

"That's why you smelled like coffee today? What an evil, sadistic little bastard. Connor, you can't let them push you around like that. You have to assert yourself."

"What do you think will happen to you if I do that? And there's nothing exactly **little **about Dayton."

"Connor, nothing's going to happen to me."

"The bruises on your back say otherwise. And what if next time it's something worse than just a beating. What if… What if they…" but he couldn't finish. He had let himself get too close to the mental images that hovered in his mind and paralyzed him with fear.

"What if, what Conn? What if they kill me?"

"I wasn't thinking of them killing you actually."

Then the penny dropped and Abby understood.

"What would prompt you to go there?" She asked casually. "Have they given you any indication that that is even on the table?"

Connor dropped his head back onto his knees. If he was going to tell her this part, he couldn't bear to look at her while he said it.

"Dayton threatened you today…with that. And I did push back, in my own way, well literally at first, but more verbally. Told him that I wouldn't cooperate if anything like that happened to you. That was about the point where he bashed my head against the wall."

_So that was why he had shrank away from her touch earlier_, Abby thought, relief washing over her.

Connor looked up at her a little sheepishly and smiled.

He continued, "That was also about the time that Tom came into the hall and sent the big bloke packin'. He said he'd get him reassigned, but we'll see huh?" He gave her another watery smile.

"I wish you would have told me this sooner. I hate to see you so crushed down all the time. Promise me Conn; promise me you won't shut me out again. We're only going to get through this if we stick together. You're all I have, and I'm pretty sure I'm all you've got too. No more secrets… well except for your little project I suppose."

She smiled back at him, a real genuine smile, not forced in the slightest.

Connor was so relieved at having the weight come off his shoulders, knowing that Abby understood** and** that she had said she loved him, she really loved him, that he reached up and grabbed her around the waist pulling her into the tub with him. Abby laughed at his sudden frivolity and looked up into his eyes.

Immediately the moment sobered for both of them. Connor leaned in and Abby closed her eyes…

Just as their lips touched the door in the main room burst open and the guard came in yelling for them to get back into view or they'd install a camera in the bathroom as well. They giggled a bit at this and Connor helped push Abby out of her somewhat awkward placement on his lap with her feet stuck up in the air over the edge of the tub.

The soldier waited until they both came out of the bathroom. His eyebrows rose slightly at the sight of Connor clad only in a towel. Connor grabbed a change of clothes and disappeared back into the bathroom. He came out in his pyjama bottoms a few minutes later holding his vest in his hand. The guard closed the door behind him as he exited the room.

Abby once again cleaned and dressed Connor's back. He pulled his vest on and with an admonishment from her to not get into the shower again until he was fully healed. He lay down on his side facing her. Abby lay in the exact mirror of his position. He glanced over with just his eyes indicating to the camera. He leaned in and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"You're really here with me? You promise?" he asked.

She leaned up and kissed his black eye. "Of course. Where else would I be? I'm here no matter what."

_OK_, he thought. _I can do this. I can do this as long as she's with me._ That's all that really mattered. Abby believed in him, so he could rely on that.

"Hey, you said you could hear what was going on in the main room? When they were… were… beating me?

"Yes" she answered tentatively, not sure where he was going with this.

"Well, that's good. If you can hear me, then I can hear you. So… so, if anything ever happens… and… and you feel threatened, more than normal, I want you to yell. I want you to shout at the top of your lungs for help. Yell fire, or whatever, call for me, just be alert and let as many people as you can know that something wrong is going on. If it's in my power, I'll come running. Promise me."

"OK, I promise, but I don't think anything's going to happen."

"It probably won't, but I want a plan in place just in case, OK?"

"OK" Abby agreed drowsily.

"One more thing Abbs?"

"What, I'm really starting to get tired Conn."

"You love me?" he asked with a smile.

"Of course, why else would I ever put up with you?"

"You love me."

"Connor, go to sleep."

"Sweet dreams, love.

"Good night! Connor."

"You love me." He dodged as she made to punch him lightly.

"Connor, can we deal with the aftermath of my statement later, like when were not in mortal danger? How do you even know that I wanna go out with you? How do you know I don't mean I love you the same way I love Jack?"

Connor stopped laughing. He was pretty sure she wouldn't kiss Jack the way she had been kissing him. He decided against expressing that thought at the moment.

"Abby." He said reproachfully.

"Go to sleep Connor… I don't wanna talk about it." Abby smiled to herself in the darkness. Yeah, she'd go out with him. She just had to keep him on his toes, especially when he was acting this goofy.


	6. The Favor

**A/N: This has already been published over on my LJ page, but this version has been revised. It will be a little darker and more violent. So, if you read it over there, this one's a bit different. There are two chapters that will have an M rating because of the changes and additions, but most of it will be T. Thanks for reading, and as always, please, please, please review.**

******Disclaimer: Primeval and its characters belong to Impossible Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended. **  


**Chapter 6 - The Favor**

The days dragged into weeks and no other major disasters had happened. Abby languished in the room by herself during the day and Connor made slow but measurable progress on his project, just enough to keep them happy and buy himself more time.

He had started to notice that Abby was looking rather pale and sickly. She was even paler than Connor, which was saying something. Despite the fact that they were getting plenty of sleep, nightmares aside, there were dark circles under her eyes too.

She needed sunlight. She needed to be able to move around a bit. Exercise. She needed to not be stuck in that tiny windowless room all the time. He was worried about her.

He'd been trying to work out a solution to this for a few days now. And then it came to him. Yes, their room was windowless, but the rest of the facility wasn't.

In fact, right outside of the big main room where he worked was a perfect little courtyard where he sometimes was allowed to eat lunch. And, it was on one of these occasions today, while eating a sandwich that the idea smacked him in the head. Why hadn't he thought of it before?

The truth was, he hadn't thought of it because he never thought his captors would go for it. But Abby desperately needed to get out. She never said anything about it, never complained. But, she was such an active person normally and it pained Connor to see her effectively caged up all the time.

He glanced over at Tom and decided to wait until the end of the workday as opposed to now, when they still had so much to do. Reverse engineering was proving far more difficult than it seemed, at least that's what Connor was leading them to believe.

He figured that enough time had passed since his massive blunder, and they **had** been quiet and cooperative, maybe that would be enough. Tom had succeeded in getting Dayton reassigned; he was still around, but not in any capacity that involved Connor. This had also apparently been enough of a warning to the other soldiers that they left Connor alone as well.

Tom had been very kind to Connor over the course of his captivity. He had been the only soldier to protest their treatment after Connor had tried to contact the ARC. He had been overruled, and had stood by while it happened, but he took no part in it.

As the end of the day approached, Connor turned and addressed Tom, "Uh, Tom, could ask you something?"

They had managed to pull out a productive day and Tom was in a good mood.

"Sure," he responded easily, not looking up from the report he was finishing.

"Well, it's kind of a favor… but it's not for me it's for Abby." He rushed through the last part in one solid breath.

At the word favor Tom's head had snapped up and he regarded Connor closely.

"Go on," his voice full of suspicion.

"Well, I was wondering… hoping… if… for just the small window of time around lunch if… if Abby could join me in the courtyard for lunch… or at least if she could eat in the courtyard. She needs sunlight and some fresh air. Please, she's been cooped up in that room for weeks now."

Once Connor began, it all came out in a rush and Connor hadn't looked at Tom once. His eyes remained glued to his fingerless gloves. He glanced up now to see Tom staring back at him, seeming to be deep in thought. After a few seconds of silence Connor's gaze returned to his fingerless gloves.

"Um, Connor," Tom said after clearing his throat.

Connor looked up in defeat fearing the answer and second-guessing the entire business. However, the expression on Tom's face was one of positive amusement, he was smiling back at him. Connor's spirits lifted instantly.

"I'll need to get final approval from Mr. Canalla, but I don't see a problem with that."

"Yeah?" Connor replied in disbelief. "Oh, that's… that's brilliant. Don't say anything to Abby, I want to surprise her tomorrow. Um… one more thing… would it be possible for her to have, like, an hour's rec time? You know jog around, maybe, this room here, or work out in the gym? She's a very active person."

"Maybe, but let's take it one step at a time, eh Connor?"

"OK. I'm not tryin' to be pushy. Oh, hey, could we order pizza for lunch tomorrow? I really miss pizza."

"Yeah, I could go with a pizza. Great idea."

When Connor got back to the room, he was in a distinctly better mood than he had been in since being taken.

"What's gotten into you?" Abby asked.

"Nothin', just had an OK day I suppose."

Dinner was the same, bland as always, but Connor didn't seem to notice. He was thinking about pizza.

Abby liked his mood, even if it **was** a little annoying. Her day had been as boring and gloomy as ever. Connor's easy smile at the end of the day almost always lifted her out of the depression brought on by the hours of silence. Tonight that seemed especially true. She could tell by the mischievous gleam in his eye that something had either gone very right, or he was planning something; maybe a little of both.

"Come on Conn, what's really going on?"

"Nope, you won't get it out of me. Not telling a soul."

"Please?" she begged.

Oh, he hated it when she begged like that. It always made him want to give her what ever she wanted. But, he knew it would be worth it later.

"Uh-uh, no way. You'll just have to wait and see."

Abby pouted and harrumphed, but Connor wouldn't budge. She could usually get whatever she wanted from him; it was unusual for him to not give in. She **was** frustrated, but part of her found his new confidence exciting, intriguing, and… and… attractive. _Huh, who would have thought it_? As much as she hated surprises, this gave her something to look forward too; it was a nice change of pace.

Connor picked a book off the shelf and settled onto his side of the bed. _When had that happened?_ Abby wondered to herself. They had settled into such an odd routine here. They apparently had "sides" of the bed.

True, all they did was sleep, but there was a new degree of trust and intimacy that had never been there before. Not even when they had been stuck in the Cretaceous era whilst chasing after Helen.

They had been too concerned with survival then. She suddenly remembered how terrified she'd been when she thought she'd lost him after he fell out of that tree. They were in a bit of a desperate situation now also, even if no creatures were actually involved.

They'd find a way out of this. They always found a way out. **Connor** always found a way out. Now, she was back to wondering what he had up his sleeve.

She picked up the book she'd been reading for the last couple of days and joined Connor on **her** side of the bed. He smiled over at her.

His reasons for not telling her had been threefold.

First, he didn't want her disappointed if they changed their minds about lunch outside tomorrow.

Secondly, he really wanted to surprise her.

And lastly, he **really** enjoyed watching her pout and sulk about. He knew he had something she wanted. Having that kind of power over her was enticing. When it came to Abby, he rarely had the upper hand, and he liked being in control.

It wasn't just that his heart thudded erratically every time he was around her, or that his stomach did flip-flops every time she said his name. It was that, as long as she was there, even in this hellhole of a place, he truly **felt** at home. Being around her was where he felt the most content with who he was.

It was all rather odd because he was also at his most awkward around her too. _How was that possible?_ He shrugged to himself; perhaps that was one of the things that made love so confounding. And he did love her; had been in love with her from the moment he had first laid eyes on her.

But as much as he was glad she was here, (it was the only thing that made **here **bearable,) he would give anything for to be back safe and sound in her flat.

* * *

Connor woke up early the next morning. He was excited. He really hoped they wouldn't change their minds about today.

The guards weren't there yet and he didn't want to wake Abby up. So, he just lay there. She had rolled over onto her side in her sleep and was curled up next to him nestled in the crook of his arm, her head on this shoulder.

He loved it when he woke up before her; it didn't happen very often. It gave him a chance to drink in the vision of an unguarded, completely peaceful Abby. He studied the plains of her beautiful face, the delicacy of her hand resting on his t-shirt, the calm rhythm of her breathing. He never got tired of this view.

He couldn't help himself; he reached down and ran the back of his fingers along her cheek. Her eyes popped open and Connor's cheeks flushed pink.

"Connor!" Abby said reproachfully.

"Uh… morning?" he replied sheepishly, then, "sorry," his faced glowing a deeper shade of red now.

"**What **is going on with you?"

"Nothing. Just happy to be awake this morning. Really."

"Are you sure everything's OK?"

"Absolutely, positive, everything's fine. 100 percent. Really."

He got out of bed and headed for the shower, having recently been cleared by Abby and seconded by Tom.

Abby sat puzzling over his behavior for a moment before pulling her robe over her pyjamas and making the bed. If there was anything she was greatful to her kidnappers for, it was that they had provided them with spare clothes, some toiletries, pyjamas and robes. Granted the robes hadn't come until she begged the soldier at the door for a week straight. And, her new one was nowhere near as fluffy and comfortable as her own robe, but the little niceties did make things a bit easier to adjust too. Still, she was facing another long, boring day spent in silence. God, she wished she had her iPod.

By the time Connor was ready it was time for breakfast. Cheerios. His bizarrely happy mood extended all the way through breakfast. He hugged Abby good-bye and said he'd see her later.

After he left she took her turn in the shower to get ready for another pointless, uneventful day. This had become her strange little routine. She honestly was not sure why she bothered.

Well, if she were honest, it was because of the enforced close proximity with Connor all the time. And the fact that she didn't want to worry him anymore than he already was. Depression was low on the scale of things to be fussing about.

Abby had nothing else to do so she was almost becoming obsessively compulsive in keeping their small quarters neat and tidy. Everyday, she picked one or several intensive jobs to do like dusting, washing the walls and the like. She would ask the soldier outside their room for whatever supplies she needed and they would almost always be brought to her immediately.

Today she wanted to clean the floors. She knocked on the door to ask the soldier for supplies like normal, but with an odd and irritating smile, he refused her. _What was with that?_ She went back to the small built-in desk and tried to read, but she wasn't in the mood. She needed something to actually **do**. But there really wasn't anything **to** do, and the familiar depression of absolute boredom began to set back in. She ended up falling asleep at the desk with her head resting on her arms.

* * *

As the clock ticked closer to noon, Connor was almost bouncing out of his seat. Tom and the other soldiers, most of them at least, seemed excited for him. Connor's good mood was apparently contagious. He kept working, but his eyes flicked more and more often to the clock at the corner of his screen.

Finally, it read 12:00 and Tom tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the main door, the one Connor was never allowed to go near. A soldier had just come through it carrying a ridiculously huge stack of pizza boxes.

"I believe you have a date," Tom said playfully.

"Brilliant," Connor replied.

He pulled his jacket on as he got up and followed Tom towards his room. He knocked on the door and opened it. Abby jumped in her seat from where she had been sitting at the desk.

"What? What's wrong?" she asked instinctively, her voice groggy.

Connor was a bit taken aback, but then smiled at her. Her normally spiky hair was plastered to her head on one side and she had a red spot on her forehead where it had been pressed against her arm.

"Nothing's wrong," he said affectionately. "I was just wondering if you would do me the honor of accompanying me to lunch today? Outside."

"Outside?"

"Yeah, well it's just a courtyard, not a big open park, but I **can** promise you sunshine." He walked over to her, ruffled her hair into place and then offered her his arm.

"Proper gentleman, aren't you," Abby smiled up at him and took his arm. "I would be delighted."

They walked arm in arm down the hall and to the main room of the building. Connor steered them to the left of his workspace and through another door. Abby blinked at the sudden brightness of the sunlight. It was the first time she'd seen it in about six weeks. She smiled over at Connor who was positively beaming.

The middle part of the courtyard was open to the sunshine. Scattered around the courtyard, which was slightly overgrown with vines and weeds, were four picnic tables. Abby could not have cared less about the state of the courtyard. It was beautiful after being cooped up for so long.

The sun did hurt her eyes a bit though. She had to keep squinting, so she brought her hand up to shade her eyes. She breathed in the fresh, perfectly warm air deeply. Not a trace of depression anywhere in her mind. Connor had outdone himself.

Connor watched the blissfulness spread across her face. He put his arm around her and kissed her temple.

"Choose." He whispered softly in her ear, motioning to the four tables.

Abby chose a table that was positioned so she could feel the warm sun on her back, and not be in the shade, but where she also didn't feel like she had to squint all the time.

Tom motioned the guard with the pizza boxes over and he set down one cheese pizza and one pepperoni pizza in front of them.

Connor reached for a piece of Cheese pizza and offered it to her. He didn't take his eyes off of her the entire time.

"Really?" Abby said. Her eyes had lit up at the first sight of the pizza boxes being brought into the courtyard. "How did you pull off pizza, Connor? We're in the middle of hell, and you talked them into pizza."

Connor flushed bright red and simply said, "I asked." Then he added, "It helped that the soldiers wanted pizza too. I can't promise pizza all the time, but I did get permission for you to eat out here with me for about thirty minutes a day, if you like."

"That's amazing. I still can't believe you did all this."

"You needed the sunshine and a break from that room. I was getting worried about you."

Abby reached across the table and took his hand. "Thank you, Connor. Now let's eat I'm starving."

Tom came over to their table, "I have some news… for both of you. Connor here has requested some apparently much needed rec time for you, Miss Maitland, and that request has been granted. You can use the main room as a jogging track and you will have an hour in the morning, under the supervision of some of the other soldiers, in the gym facilities."

Abby's mouth fell open.

"You can start tomorrow if you like, I'll leave you two to your lunch," Tom smiled down at them, turned sharply, and walked away towards some of the other soldiers.

Connor looked around at the soldiers, and the rest of the courtyard. Suddenly he bent down and tied his shoe. Abby looked at him a little funny. When he was sure that no one was listening, he leaned in close to Abby.

"I also was hoping for some bug free conversation out here." He smiled at her. "I think we're good. Are you surprised?"

"This is the coolest thing you have ever done for me. I know it was a big risk even asking, but thanks."

Then it was her turn to surprise him. She leaned forward, quickly closing the gap between them and kissed him, just like that day at the racetrack, but so much more.

She stopped and pulled away blushing furiously at the cat calls from the soldiers who had now filled up the other tables. Connor ducked his head, blushing as well.

"Look," he said quietly, "I have an idea for getting us out of here, but the timing's going to be... dicey."

"Shhh," Abby said, "I trust you, but let's just enjoy lunch for today, OK?" If they are bugging even this table, I want to have one nice day outside before they snatch it all away because you've said too much already. And, if they are not bugging us, then we can talk about it later, right?

"OK," Connor agreed. There would be time to go over this later, right? He hoped as much. He changed the subject.

"What do you think they are doing back home? I mean, how do you think they are getting on with the anomalies and the creatures without us?"

"I've got a better question," Abby asked, "who do you think they roped into taking care of Rex, Sid and Nancy?" They both laughed.

They spent the rest of the too short lunch eating their pizza and joking back and forth about Danny, Sarah, and Becker, even Lester on occasion. And they recounted some of their favorite experiences they had shared to date. For just that brief half hour, things seemed almost normal.

But all too soon, Tom and a few other soldiers came over and let Connor know it was time to get back to work. Connor's good mood faltered just a bit and Abby saw the weight of the task set before him shadow over his face. He quickly rearranged his expression when he saw her looking at him.

"Are you Ok?" she asked.

"110 percent, I'm great. Time to go then?" He stood up and offered his arm to her again. She took it and they walked back into the building together towards Connor's workspace. Another guard stood by his desk.

"With me please, Miss," the guard called to Abby.

She frowned, but reached up to kiss Connor on the cheek. "Thank you for today; it was perfect," then, just to him, "See you soon" she whispered into his ear.

"Can't wait," he whispered back. Then he turned to the soldier escorting her back, "Take care of my girl".

The guard looked at Abby quizzically, but Abby just smiled back at Connor, turned and walked off ahead of the soldier, who had to jog to catch up, toward their quarters. _She didn't follow anyone_, Connor thought to himself. That would keep the smile on his face until he could see her again in a few hours.


	7. Connor Really Wasn't Thinking

**A/N: This has already been published over on my LJ page, but this version has been revised. It will be a little darker and more violent. So, if you read it over there, this one's a bit different. There are two chapters that will have an M rating because of the changes and additions, but most of it will be T. Thanks for reading, and as always, please, please, please review.**

******Disclaimer**: Primeval and its characters belong to Impossible Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Chapter 7 - Connor Really Wasn't Thinking**

Connor glanced up from his workbench as Abby jogged around the edge of the large room. Her color was returning to normal and things seemed to be looking up. The last two weeks had actually been somewhat pleasant. Connor was also pretty certain that his plan was almost ready to be put into place.

He picked up the device he was working on and, not really thinking, pushed a few keys, turned towards the center of the room and pressed one last button. _Oh, crap_, he thought as a large glittering anomaly spun open in the middle of the room.

Every one froze except for Connor. Before anyone could do anything, he pushed a few more keys, closed the anomaly and, using his pinky, as he turned away from the guards and cameras, undid some of the wiring he had just patched.

He glanced up at Tom, who had gone as white as a sheet and was wearing a horrified expression on his face, and said, "Well… that was unexpected."

He looked over in time to see several guards rushing Abby out of the room. She was looking back at him. For a split second their eyes locked and he nodded slightly once.

Tom snatched the device out of his hand and attempted to repeat what Connor had done. It didn't work and sparks flew out of the exposed back along with a little puff of smoke. Tom yelped and dropped the devise.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?" Tom yelled.

"I dunno, I was just tinkering with it and it registered a power surge. I told you we were getting close."

"You should have been more careful. Abby was in here. Don't you know how much trouble you could get into; you remember last time?"

"Yes," Connor replied darkly, "do you really think I could forget?"

"Can you repeat it?"

"I don't know. I can try. We don't even know where it opened to though, do we?"

"Why did it close?" Tom asked, looking at Connor suspiciously.

Connor could tell he knew something wasn't adding up. He was going to have to tread very carefully if he was to cover his tracks and get away with this.

"Not sure," Connor replied slowly, trying to buy himself time to think, "Maybe it was a weak connection to the other side and it couldn't hold?" _That sounded plausible, right?_ Connor thought to himself.

Tom handed the device back to him, "Do it again," he requested.

Connor flipped the small piece of machinery over and, unbeknownst to Tom, admired his handiwork and quick thinking. "These circuit boards will have to be replaced first, and I'll need to update the code to try to counteract the power surge."

He sat back down at his desk and started fixing the damaged insides.

Tom leaned over him, "If you're plotting something," he whispered quietly in Connor's ear, pretending to be looking at the code, "you had better be prepared to deal with the consequences; they will be much more… permanent, this time around."

"I know that, alright, I swear, this was all an accident; there's no need to do anything. I'll figure it out. We're getting close, that's all." Connor was working overtime to keep his voice steady and controlled.

"It had better have been, for all our sakes, Connor." Tom said coolly. He straightened back up then went over to his own chair a few feet away.

The door at the far end of the room opened and Mr. Canalla strolled in.

"Mr. Canalla, sir." Tom snapped to attention and saluted.

"Please explain what has happened today." Mr. Canalla asked simply.

"The device has produced an anomaly, sir, just like you wanted."

Mr. Canalla looked from Tom to Connor. "Is this true?"

"Yes, sir," Connor replied not looking at him.

This was one of the few people that Connor really hated and it didn't help that he was also one of the few people that Connor was truly afraid of as well.

Mr. Canalla, however, did not take his eyes off Connor. He was studying everything about him intently.

"Do it again," he ordered.

Connor glanced over at Tom, and then returned his gaze to looking at the floor. "I can't, not yet anyway. I'm not even sure how this one opened."

"Perhaps you just need some extra motivation; perhaps we could fetch Miss Maitland. I understand she was in here earlier."

He snapped his fingers at a newly arrived soldier. Connor glanced over and was horrified to see Dayton stepping up to Mr. Canalla's side with a wicked gleam in his eyes as he took in Connor's expression.

Connor felt the blood drain from his face.

"NO!" Connor almost shouted, looking at Mr. Canalla for the first time. "Please, sir, I'll get it working. I'll figure it out, I swear. Leave Abby alone, please. It really was an accident; you have to believe me. I would never be so careless as to put her in danger. In the past two months since you made your point abundantly clear, have I done **anything** to cross you… sir?" He put the last word in a bit begrudgingly. He really hated this man.

Connor continued, "You know that Abby's safety is my top priority, my weak link, I won't put her in danger… which is why I have done **everything** you've asked me to do. I haven't complained, Abby hasn't complained. You wanted me to get this working; I'm almost there. I just need a bit more time."

"I think you have had too many distractions of late. Perhaps you do not need to focus on your lunch hour so much, or Miss Maitland jogging around in front of you."

"Please," Connor said quietly, "please don't lock her in that room again."

"Is there something wrong with the accommodations Miss Maitland and you have been given here?" his tone deadly and menacing, "I assure you we can make other arrangements for the two of you."

Connor swallowed as he remembered being tied to a chair in a small dark room somewhere in this same building.

"No, sir, it's just that she needs the sunlight and the exercise. Please, she's been very cooperative, we both have. We're grateful for all the extra stuff you've allowed us lately, really.

"Here's what's going to happen Mr. Temple. Miss Maitland may keep her schedule with the exception of the jogging. I think allowing her in this room for any extended period of time was a mistake. As for you, you will no longer be dining with her until you get this to work again and I am increasing your work hours from 10 to 12 hours a day. Is that clear?"

Connor nodded and Mr. Canalla raised an eyebrow at him. Connor cleared his throat, "Yes… Yes, sir," he replied, his head dropping a little.

"Tom, a word." Mr. Canalla walked a little ways off from Connor with Tom, leaving Dayton to watch Connor.

Connor glanced at him and then turned back to his desk hoping Dayton would just ignore him. He was never that lucky though.

Dayton leaned down gripping Connor's shoulder with extreme force making Connor wince in pain. "Don't think, that I've forgotten about you or your little girlfriend. I can be patient," he purred into Connor's ear. Another squeeze to Connor shoulder; then he straitened up and looked for all the world as if nothing had happened.

Connor kept his gaze on his computer screen the entire time. When Tom came back over and Dayton left with Mr. Canalla, Connor let out the air he had been holding in his lungs.

"You alright?" Tom asked.

"Fine," was all he replied.

Part of Connor was worried about this, but once Dayton was out of sight, the other part of Connor quickly took over. For that part of Connor, it was all he could do to not smile. He'd done it. At least for now, he had pulled off the biggest lie of his life.

Yes, it had cost him lunch with Abby, but if he could succeed with his plan, then Abby and he would be safe. There would be plenty of lunches together if they could get home.

The device had worked. Opening it at that particular time **had** been unintentional. He really hadn't been thinking. He knew he had needed to test his work, but he had meant to do it when Abby was back in their room. That could have been hugely disastrous.

Connor fought the urge to smile. They were banking his honesty on the same thing that gave him the ability to lie to their faces. Abby. **He** would never put her in danger, but **they** had put her in danger. He had to get her out of it. That trumped everything, even his normal inability to lie convincingly.

He worked the rest of the day in silence, completely focused on the next part of his plan. Tom hovered and kept a much closer eye on Connor than before. _Yes_, Connor thought, _he would have to be very careful_, but he was almost there. He knew it.

When Connor got back to their room that night, later than usual, Abby was waiting on pins and needles.

She had seen the anomaly open and then the guards had hurried her out of the room, but not before she had caught Connor's eye and knew he had not been **that** surprised by what had happened.

"Are you Ok?" she asked as soon as he was through the door.

"Yeah," he said, pulling her into a tight embrace and kissing her hair, he whispered, "Better than OK," then out loud, "Uh, you weren't supposed to see that, so could you just pretend you didn't?" He rolled his eyes around the room as an obvious reminder of the surveillance they were under.

"Uh, yeah, whatever," Abby replied calmly.

He mouthed the word, "_later_," to her. "I won't be having lunch with you for a while."

"What, I have to stay in here again?"

"No, but **I** can't go out right now. Mr. Canalla wants me to 'focus'; he thinks you're a distraction."

"Oh, so first I'm leverage, now I'm a distraction?"

Connor smiled. "It's OK though, because I convinced him to still let you have lunch outside, and continued access to they gym. You won't be able to jog though, sorry."

"What 'bout you?"

"I think I'm going to have longer work hours for a bit, but it's OK. I could use the time. The sooner I finish, the sooner we can go home right? Isn't that the idea?"

"Connor, you don't seriously think they are just going to let us go, do you?"

He looked down at her worried face. He pulled her into another hug and with his mouth pressed close to her ear, he whispered, "Don't worry Love, I've got a plan and today's little breach was a **very** good thing. I know what to do now and I'm going to get us home safely, OK. Just trust me and do exactly as I tell you when the time comes."

She nodded her silent assent.

"One more thing, Dayton's back in the picture, so you stay very alert. I think I can pretty much hear you from anywhere you would be, whether that's here, outside, or in the gym, so… so that shouldn't be an issue. Just promise me you'll find a way to let me know if he comes after you. I… I think he might try something… before all this is over. **Please** be careful. This guy's worse than the raptors."

"You worried he's going to start bothering you again?"

"No, I don't think that would help the big picture, and Mr. Canalla's a big picture type guy. That's why I'm worried about you."

"I'll be fine, it's not like I can't take care of myself."

"I know, but he doesn't like to fight fair."

"I'll be careful and I promise I'll call for help."

"Come on, let's go to bed. It's been a **very** long day." Connor whisked Abby up into his arms, her breath catching at his sudden playfulness. "Did I mention it has also been a very good day?" he whispered again into her ear. She laughed with him now as he settled her on the bed. "Have I told you that I love you today?"

"Don't think you have."

"I love you Abby Maitland."

"I love you Connor Temple."


	8. Knight Without Armor

**A/N: This has already been published over on my LJ page, but this version has been revised. It will be a little darker and more violent. So, if you read it over there, this one's a bit different. Thanks for reading, and as always, please, please, please review. This is especially true of this chapter as it has been completely rewritten and so this is the first time I am publishing it, and I really want to know what people think.**

******Disclaimer: Primeval and its characters belong to Impossible Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended. **  


**_This would be one of the two chapters that is now accompanied by an M rating for violence._ There is quite a bit of added graphic violence in this chapter.**

**Chapter 8 – Knight Without Armor**

Connor had been working for three days solid. His twelve-hour work schedule was exhausting. However, he was making huge strides toward unlocking the information he needed from the anomaly device in order for his plan to work.

Dayton was definitely back around, but Tom had taken to escorting Connor everywhere he went. He would even station himself outside the bathroom when Connor was using the facilities.

Tom had even made sure that the soldier outside of Abby's room understood that in no uncertain terms was Dayton to be allowed in that room.

Connor really appreciated all the effort Tom was going through to keep Dayton away from him, and Abby. This eased his worries a bit and helped him to focus.

He was so close to being able to put everything into play. His work was reaching that point of frustration though, where he knew he could do it, but it was still a matter of getting the right pieces to snap together. The theory worked, it was just the practicalities of it.

That was about the point he heard Abby scream.

* * *

Dayton wanted to make Connor suffer for getting him reassigned. His job had really sucked since then. With his big build he hated being outside. And guarding the perimeter meant that he was outside all the time. He only came in to bunk down. So, when Canalla had shifted tactics with Connor, Dayton had been moved back in. He had been given strict orders to not mess with the kid. No one had said anything about the kid's little girlfriend though. The soldier posted outside her room would be a slight obstacle. The first time Dayton had strolled down the hallway the day guard's hand had slid to his weapon and told him to back away. It was clear he had no intention of letting him in that room. Dayton was more experienced though and knew the younger soldier wouldn't really be a problem in the end.

He used his day off the plan what he wanted to do. He tracked down a couple of vials of Propofol, his preferred knock out drug. He set the timing of everything in his plan and knew exactly what he wanted to do and how long it would take. He'd have to rely on speed and stealth, because the door didn't lock from the inside. However, if all went according to plan, this was going to be fun.

Luck was with him the next day as he glanced down the corridor to assess the guard's position. He was turned around facing the door, not even looking down the hallway_. What was he doing anyway?_ _Oh, he was on his mobile_. So not appropriate, he had no idea how much he was about to pay for this breach of protocol. Dayton was swift and light on his feet, despite his size and he caught the young man completely off guard just as he was hanging up with his call. He trapped him in a coke hold and slid him to the floor as he lost consciousness.

"Sorry, John."

He slipped the vial and syringe out of his pocket, filled the syringe, and injected the unfortunate soldier with the Propofol. He wouldn't be awake for hours at this point, barring any bad reactions; otherwise he might not wake up at all. _Oh well._

Dayton opened the door. The little blond had just come out of the shower. She was saying something about cleaning and supplies she would need. Apparently she expected him to say something and when he didn't he could almost feel the change in the room. She tensed and began to turn around. He shut the door behind him and had her pinned against him with his hand over her mouth before she could make a sound. She was surprisingly strong for one so little. It didn't matter though, he was stronger. He pinched her nose so she couldn't breathe and held her still until he felt the fight draining out of her. He bent her over the bed and roughly tied her hands behind her using the tie from her robe. He unplugged the lamp from the extension cord and yanked that out of the wall. He tied the extension cord as tight as he could get it around her elbows, ensuring that she could not get her arms out from behind her.

He had been disappointed to discover that she was already dressed beneath her robe. He had hoped to not have to waste time with her clothes, but it wasn't like he had never taken someone' clothes off before. They'd be out of the way soon enough. He flipped her over and pulled the duct tape from another pocket. She was blinking up at him now and moaning at the pain in her arms and shoulders as she started to come around. Good, he wanted her to be awake for this. He liked it when they struggled, and he was certain she was a fighter and would not disappoint. He pressed the tape over her mouth firmly.

Just for good measure, so she could feel who was in charge, he struck her hard across the cheek with the back of his hand. She cried out, but the strip of tape muffled it. Her eyes watered and he smiled at the expression of fear and anger mingled on her face. He grabbed her hair and pulled her head back with his left hand while his right strayed down the front of her shirt. She squirmed beneath him. He grabbed at her collar and tore open her shirt to reveal her black sorts bra. He let his hand drift down the line between her breasts. She bucked and somehow managed to get a foot around in front of him. Instead of going for his groin, which he had anticipated, she kicked him hard in the face. He felt his nose crack under the force of her kick and he flew back off of her in shock.

She managed to get off the bed and ran for the door. She couldn't get it open with her arms behind her. She was desperately trying to get the tape off her mouth using her tongue. She finally succeeded and she screamed at the door as loud as she could. It took Dayton a second for him to register that she was calling Temple's name, calling for help. She only had a couple of seconds to scream out. _Damn it, that was probably enough_. He'd have to move quickly now.

He grabbed her hair again and shoved her head into the door. She crumpled to the ground. He grabbed her hair once more and dragged her over to the bathroom. He grabbed a wash cloth off the counter and before she realized what he was about to do he shoved it into her mouth, his fingers jamming all the way to back of her throat, forcing it deeper and deeper. She gagged and strained wildly against him. This only excited him more. He took his belt off. She tried to push the invading cloth out of her mouth with her tongue. Before she could, he wrapped his belt around her head constricting it over her mouth. She cried out as he pulled it extremely tight and secured it into place.

He was being cruel he knew, but he liked to be rough. This wasn't his first go at something like this. He was actually quite good at it from years of practice. His ability to instill fear and pain into those under his control was why Canalla had hired him in the first place. He had just never mentioned the fact that he had honed those skills in much more unconventional ways than coercing information out of an enemy on the battlefield. Yes he could do that, and he was rather gifted with his fists, a cattle prod, and a whip as Temple had found out early on, but now it was his turn to have a little fun. This was what he was best at, and what he got to do the least, what he had wanted to do since he had pulled her shirt up and beaten her weeks ago.

Abby continued to thrash in his grasp, panic making her desperate. He punched her hard in the stomach and shoved her head into the wall again. He dragged her over to the bed once more and slammed her down onto it. She was crying now, but she continued to try and fight. He got onto the bed and began to straddle her. She kicked out at him catching him with a glancing blow off his shoulder. He grabbed her leg and effortlessly brought it down onto the bed and adjusted his position so that it was pinned beneath him. He inched up her legs from her ankles to her knees, her knees to her thighs. Still he kept moving forward. He had his knees on either side of her hips now. She strained against him writhing in her bonds. He reached down and popped the button of her jeans and undid the zip in one fluid movement.

She screamed again and he leaned forward and closed his left fist around her throat, his right hand moving to his zip, the button already undone.

"You apparently have a very clever tongue, I'm looking forward to seeing what else you can do with it. Gotta few other things to do first though. I think you need to loosen up a bit." His hand closed tighter around her throat.

_Where was Connor? What if he hadn't heard her?_ Abby stared up, terrified, at the sadistic man in front of her, eyes blown wide in fear.

* * *

It took Connor all of about two tenths of a second to react to the scream. He jumped up from his chair upsetting a large portion of the contents of his desk. The soldiers reacted before Tom could and they pulled their guns on Connor. Two of them forced him onto his stomach and secured his arms behind him.

"Tom, please, it's Abby. I know I heard her. Please I have to help her. PLEASE. What if it's Dayton?"

"Stand DOWN!" Tom yelled at the soldiers. "Stand down."

The guards **slowly** backed off of Connor.

Tom pulled him to his feet and freed his wrists.

"Go," he told Connor. "We'll be right behind you."

Connor nodded and took off down the hall. It felt like he was running in slow motion, like the door to his room kept getting farther and farther instead of closer. He saw someone lying on the floor outside his room. For a second he hoped it was Dayton, but as he drew closer, he recognized John, the day guard. He didn't stop to see if he was OK; Tom had said he'd be right behind him.

He crashed through the door and took in the scene in a quick flash. He felt his blood boil at what he saw. It was exactly like the scenes that had so often played out in his nightmares.

Dayton was astride Abby on the bed. She was bound, gagged and staring back at him in wild terror, her shirt torn open and her jeans undone. Dayton had one hand poised on his zip, his other hand on her throat, and he was just turning to look at the door.

Connor snapped before Dayton even fully realized he was there. He launched himself at Dayton with a primal growl that was all his own fueled by sheer adrenaline. Connor's shoulder caught Dayton just under his right arm. Both of them went flying off the bed, across the small room and into the wall.

Connor heard the satisfying crunch of breaking bone from Dayton's left shoulder followed by a grunt of pain. Dayton made to grab Connor around the throat. Connor ducked his chin and head butted him instead. Dayton's head snapped back into the wall.

Connor reached up and grabbed his hair just like Dayton had done to him a few weeks before. And just like before, Connor slammed Dayton's head against the wall. When Connor shifted position, Dayton took that opportunity to slam his meaty fist into Connor's jaw. Connor fell back onto the floor, dazed. Dayton moved to position himself over Connor. Connor made a well-placed kick to the inside of his knee, and was rewarded with the sound of another satisfyingly loud snap. A scream of pain issued from Dayton and he grabbed at his leg. This threw him off balance and Connor rolled onto him.

All the frustration, pain, fear and helplessness of the last two months filled Connor with a rage he had never known. Memories began to cloud his vision: the pain of a beating that lasted for hours. He punched Dayton as hard as he could in the face. The feeling of electricity flashing across his ribs while he writhed in agony. Another **punch**. The image of Abby being dragged into the warehouse.** Punch**. The searing pain of a whip being plied to his back. **Punch**. The view of Abby, tied down and beaten. **Punch**. The feeling of hot coffee being poured down his back. **Punch**. The scene that had just greeted him as he came through the door. **Punch**. **Punch**. **Punch**.

With each blow that Connor landed he half growled, half screamed with a savage satisfaction. He couldn't stop. Everything else in the room blurred out. His fists kept flailing harder and harder.

The next thing he was aware of was Tom pinning his arms to his side and pulling him back.

"Connor. Connor stop. He's unconscious, Connor. Stop."

Connor stopped trying to fight Tom off. His screams of rage had fallen into sobs of desperation. He sagged against Tom's arms and Tom let him stay there for a moment while Connor tried to gain control of himself.

"Connor… Connor, go help Abby. She needs you." Connor took a big shaky breath and pushed himself up off of Dayton's unconscious body.

One of the soldiers was reaching up to pull the gag off Abby's mouth. Connor batted his had away.

"I got it." He reached around behind her head and undid the belt, gently loosening it from her face. He pulled it free and cradled her head. He took a hold of the washcloth and carefully drew it from her mouth. She drew in an enormous shaky breath accompanied by a small cry. He pulled her robe closed so she wasn't exposed to everyone who came in the room. He wiped the tears away from her face.

"Are you alright sweetheart?" His voice was still shaking with emotion.

"Your hands." She said.

He looked down at his hands. His fingerless gloves were shredded at the knuckles and bloody. His fingers were gashed and raw in several places and, like the rest of him, his hands were shaking furiously. At further glance, the rest of him was covered in blood also. He was pretty sure it was Dayton's blood considering most of the corner of the room where Dayton now lay was spattered with blood also.

"I'll be f-fine… you… you should see the other g-guy." He laughed a nervous laugh that was half a sob, but when Abby started to look over he reached out and turned her head back to him.

"Don't, please, it'll just add to the nightmares. I know it's going to add to mine. But, I don't think he'll hurt you anymore."

He pulled Abby up into a sitting position. He began to work at the knots binding her arms. His fingers were numb as he worked to undo the electrical cord that bound her elbows. It was more difficult than it looked.

"Bastard," he mumbled as the cord came free and he saw the bruises already forming there. Hot, angry tears flooded his eyes. Next he tackled the robe tie that served to bind her wrists. It took him a minute for his fingers to loosen those knots as well. They had been pulled incredibly tight. _Had it really been necessary to tie them that tight?_ He rubbed her arms at the binding points gently for a few minutes. He remembered how sore he had been; he knew they would hurt to move for the first few minutes, so he wanted to ease as much of the pain as he could.

As soon as her arms were free she wrapped them around Connor's neck, burying her face there as well.

"I thought you weren't going to get here in time," she sobbed. "He caught me off guard. I'm sorry I wasn't alert like I promised."

"Hey, I got here didn't I? It's OK. I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner. I tried, but there was a mix up with some of the soldiers. None of this is your fault. You hear me? None of it." His fingers were under her chin looking at her closely. She had a huge knot forming on her forehead and it was quickly bruising as well. "Are **you** OK?"

"My head hurts and my vision's a little blurry. He bashed it pretty hard on the wall a few times and he hit me here." She held her hand up to purpling gash across her right cheek.

"Tom, can you check her head, I think she might have a concussion or something," Connor called over his shoulder.

Tom had been working on Dayton, but he got up and came over to them immediately. It was obvious he didn't really care about the evil man.

"I'll need to check you out as well Connor. Let me go get my kit." Tom left the room leaving one of the soldiers to guard Dayton just in case he woke up. Nobody really thought **that** was going to happen. Not anytime soon anyway.

Connor sat down next to Abby and pulled her onto his lap.

"I thought I was going to have a heart attack when I heard you scream. I got up to come to you right away, but the guards wouldn't let me. If Tom hadn't intervened…"

"You got to me Conn. I'm OK. Just some cuts and bruises. I'll be fine. You've certainly had a lot worse while we've been here."

He looked down over her small frame. He took her hand and gently pulled the sleeve of her robe back. Angry red splotches and scrapes encircled her wrist.

"You put up a fight didn't you." Connor lifted each wrist to his lips and kissed them. "Good girl."

"Yeah, but you saved the day." She leaned up and kissed him lightly.

Tom came back with his kit and started checking the two of them over. He had Abby put a cold press on the back of her head while Connor held another one up to her forehead. He bandaged both her wrists. Connor's hands had to be heavily bandaged as well. Two of his fingers were sprained and purpling. Tom said he had a sneaking suspicion that he may have fractured a few knuckles as well. Connor thought it was well worth it if Abby was safe from that bastard. Connor's only other injuries were a bright red knot on his forehead where he had head butted Dayton and a badly bruised jaw.

As Tom was finishing up with Connor and Abby, Mr. Canalla stepped into the room.

"What is going on?" He looked from Tom to Connor to Abby. Connor and Abby involuntarily shrank back behind Tom. "Why do I have a nearly dead soldier on my hands and another one barely conscious in hall?"

Tom spoke up, "Lieutenant Dayton attacked John with the intention of doing Miss Maitland harm. Connor came to her defense."

"And how did Mr. Temple come to be in this part of the building at this time. Isn't he supposed to be working?"

"I heard her call for help…" Connor started, but Tom silenced him with a look.

"I gave him permission to come to her aid. Surely you would not condone the actions of Lieutenant Dayton?"

"No, I loathe rape, unless I can use it to my advantage. This does nothing for me. It's going to delay my entire plan. I'm assuming it's going to be a few days before he can even type again." He motioned disgustedly to Connor's purpling fingers.

"Uh, yes, sir." Tom replied.

"Damn it." Mr. Canalla turned towards Dayton. He asked one of the soldiers for his sidearm. Connor looked over in alarm. Without warning Mr. Canalla fired three shots into Dayton's head, which effectively exploded onto the wall behind him in a mass for red blood and tissue and grayish pink brain matter.

"Jesus!" Connor cried, pulling Abby away from the fine red spray that filtered through the air.

Mr. Canalla turned back to the stunned soldiers, "clean that up," he ordered, and stormed from the room.

Connor had his arms wrapped tightly around Abby pressing her head into his chest so she couldn't see; his hand covered her ear to protect her from the sound. He squeezed his eyes shut as tight as he could get them and rocked methodically back and forth with Abby, whimpering slightly.

Tom put his hand on Connor's shoulder, "It's over; he's gone. It's Ok, Connor."

Connor slowly stopped rocking and opened his eyes. "Who… who does that… who kills their own guy like that… with no remorse… no thought. He just shot him." Connor was shaking even more than before. God he hated Canalla. But, at this moment he couldn't decide if the stronger emotion that he felt was fear or hatred. He was leaning towards fear, mostly due to what he had just witnessed.

Tom turned back to Connor and Abby. "I suggest that you two lie low for a couple days. Get some rest; recuperate. Connor, keep a close eye on Abby, wake her up every so often if she falls asleep. I'll be back to check on you both in a few hours. If you need anything, just knock on the door as you usually would."

"Yes, **sir**," Connor answered.

Tom glanced over at the bloody mess that was what remained of Dayton.

"On second thought, give me a second." He stepped out of the room to converse privately with another soldier. He returned a moment later.

"Abby, can you walk?"

"Um, I think so."

"I can get her where ever she needs to go," Connor answered.

"Good," Tom replied, "both of you follow me."

Connor steadied Abby on her feet. They started to follow Tom out of the room and away from the gory scene in the corner. Abby faltered with her balance and Connor, not saying a word, swung her up into his arms and cradled her to him. She laid her head on his shoulder as they walked and closed her eyes.

Tom led them back to the door of the courtyard.

"It's cloudy out today, but I don't think it's going to rain. Even if it does, the edges of the courtyard are roofed in, so you two should be fine. I think it will be better for you to wait here while they clean up your room, than to actually be locked up in there with a dead body."

Connor looked up at him, "Thank you, Tom. You have no idea how grateful I am to you right now."

"Yeah, well, let's just get through the next few days OK? Oh, and Connor, with regard to what happened to Dayton… it was him or you, or worse Abby. If it was me, I would have done the same thing."

Connor nodded silently in acknowledgement and stepped through the door. He felt Abby breathe the fresh air in deeply. He walked to a corner of the courtyard and lowered Abby and himself down onto the ground. He rested his back against the wall and pulled Abby back onto his lap. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, taking a moment to breathe in the fresh air himself. When he opened his eyes he looked down and saw that Abby was watching him intently.

"Are you **sure** you're Ok? You sure he didn't hurt you in any other way before I got to you?" Connor asked her again.

"I'm fine, honestly, you didn't leave hum time to do anything. Now, just keep a close eye on me, like you always do, and everything will be all right."

He wrapped his arms around her tighter. She snuggled in closer.

"Can I ask you something?" Abby queried.

"Whatever you like."

"Where did you learn to do what you did," Abby asked, "back there, when you were fighting Dayton?"

"Becker," Connor responded. "Danny, him and me spent the weekend at his flat a few months ago and he had us watch one Bruce Lee movie after another. The man has a serious martial arts fetish. You know I think Danny was right… we've really got to get him a girlfriend."

Abby burst out laughing.

"Ow, don't make me laugh Connor. It makes everything hurt."

"Sorry. Here's hoping all this will be over soon and we can actually get to hang out with our friends."

It started to drizzle a little and Connor found the sound quite peaceful. He leaned his head back again and closed his eyes letting it soothe him.

"I'm **so** ready to go home." Abby laid her head back down on Connor's chest.

"Me too," he replied, "me too," a single tear slipping down his cheek.

His plan had to work. It just had to. He couldn't stand being here anymore.


	9. Out of Time

**A/N: This has already been published over on my LJ page, but this version has been revised. It will be a little darker and more violent. So, if you read it over there, this one's a bit different. There are two chapters that will have an M rating because of the changes and additions, but most of it will be T. Thanks for reading, and as always, please, please, please review.**

******Disclaimer**: Primeval and its characters belong to Impossible Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Chapter 9 – Out of Time**

Connor had been back at work for three days. The nightmares were worse than ever for both him and Abby. Abby had woken up screaming for the first two nights following Dayton's attack. Connor would keep his arms around her and let her cry it out until she fell back to sleep. She had finally slept through the night for the first time only last night.

Connor on the other hand had hardly slept at all. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the images of Dayton's body in front of him. He couldn't escape it. Sometimes it was the view of Dayton's beaten face, other times it was the more gruesome image of what he looked like after Canalla had shot him. Either way Connor felt responsible.

Abby had tried to tell him it wasn't his fault, but what kind of man beats another man into oblivion and feels some kind of grim satisfaction at it? That was what was haunting him. The problem was not that he hadn't felt bad about it, because he had…later. But right then, at that specific point in time, he hadn't felt anything even close to remorse. All he had wanted was to land another punch, and then another after that and another after that. In that moment all he had wanted to do was kill Dayton. In that moment he felt vindicated in every single punch he landed on Dayton's face. Sure he felt guilty about it **now**, but not then.

The only thing that had snapped him out of it was witnessing Canalla quite literally blowing Dayton's head off. Just a few seconds before he had wanted exactly what had just happened. But seeing it… seeing it had just been… wrong. There was no taking it back. Connor couldn't undo it. Part of him wished he could, and part of him was glad Dayton was dead. That's why he would lay awake at night afraid to close his eyes. His nightmares weren't the sleeping kind. They were there even when he was awake. Inescapable.

It was time to get up. He would have to wrestle with all this later. He had to get them out of here first.

Even running on minimal sleep Connor had made a lot of more progress. More progress than they were anywhere near aware of. He was more motivated now than ever before.

He looked around. Tom had just stepped out to make a quick trip to the bathroom. Connor held the device in his lap under his desk. He had written a few notes on tiny pieces of paper: who he was, what was happening to Abby and him, and what he had planned to get them out.

Yes, the device worked, and even better than that, Connor could control everything about it. They had no inkling at all that this was the case.

Between typing random bits of code into the computer he punched instructions into the device as well.

The biggest problem had been how to figure out the size control for the anomalies. He knew that they occurred in various sizes. There had been the huge one that the G-Rex had come through, and the little one his diictodons had come through. He needed to be able to control the size of the anomalies and he had finally figured out how to do it.

He pressed the last button necessary and a minute anomaly only big enough for his hand to get through opened up under his desk. He shoved the hastily scrawled notes through the anomaly and closed it just as Tom emerged from the bathroom hallway.

He punched up the last few lines of code he needed to fix the "fried" circuit boards in the "damaged" anomaly device. Connor's new technology now surpassed the technology it had been reverse engineered from.

That had been Helen's anomaly device. He still wasn't sure how they had gotten a hold of it or how they had tracked down him and Abby in the first place. He had his suspicions that it was tied to Christine Johnson's old outfit, but this seemed definitely outside of what the British military and government would sanction. At least he hoped it was.

Mr. Canalla was distinctly Spanish. Nothing about him said Union Jack, gangster maybe, or mafia, but not British. And what did they want with the anomaly technology anyway? This would be bad news if it got into the wrong hands. That was why he had taken Abby's advice and written in a fail-safe. If something happen to him, or Abby, then the code would self-destruct and the device would stop working. It was the last part of the code he had programmed in. He had put off writing it because he really didn't want to think about anything happening to him or Abby, but after the last few days, he knew he couldn't put it off anymore.

Connor looked up at Tom, "Should we test it?"

"Is it ready?" Tom replied.

"It should be."

"All right then. Everyone to your stations, we're ready to test," Tom called to the others in the room.

The soldiers readied their weapons. They stood back from the center of the room, but on high alert. Connor aimed the device at the middle of the room and pressed the button to engage an anomaly. The light that shone from the device flickered and then there was an odd sound as of something shutting down, and everything went blank.

"Uh," Connor tapped the screen for a response, but nothing happened.

Tom's eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

"Not sure what's wrong, but I'll figure it out."

Tom turned to him, "You do realize that if you can't get it working and you've been leading us on this whole time, that it's more than just your head on the chopping block right?"

Connor looked up, a bit surprised at this, "What'd you mean?"

"I mean, that Mr. Canalla doesn't employ people who can't tell when he's being ripped off. He only tolerates people who will get him results."

"I'll get it working. I just need a few more days. Four, five at the most. I promise. I'm just working out the last few kinks. I swear. You've stuck your neck out for me plenty of times. It'll work. Really. I'll be done in the next few days."

Connor went and sat back down at his desk, to keep "fixing" the code for the little machine. He didn't like the idea that he could end up being responsible for something bad happening to all these other people, especially Tom. But, at the same time, they had willingly, in some form or another, participated in the abduction of him and Abby, which also meant that they had partaken in everything that had happened to them since then, the torture, the beatings, all of it.

No, Tom had not participated in the beating that Abby and he had received, but he **did** stand by and **watch** it happen. They had all made a choice that had led them here. All of them except for Abby and him, they had been dragged here against their will.

Connor heard the door open on the other side of the room, but thought nothing of it. He kept working.

"Mr. Temple," the cool voice of Mr. Canalla called through the room. Connor's eyes popped wide open and his expression froze as he felt his heart skip a beat. He turned around in his chair to look back at his captor.

His eyes involuntarily darted to Abby, who, to his horror, was being physically pulled into the room by several soldiers who had followed Mr. Canalla. One of the soldiers grabbed her wrist and twisted it back around dropping her to her knees instantly. She cried out in pain. Connor saw the look of fear in her eyes, but this time there was also a flash of anger. He knew she hated not being in control, being helpless.

"Would you care to explain why today's test failed?" Mr. Canalla asked calmly.

"Still working out a few kinks from the fried circuits, sir," Connor replied.

"I think you're stalling, Mr. Temple."

The guard standing next to Abby holding her arm back pulled out a gun and held it to the top of her head. Her eyes were wet, she was obviously in pain, but she held her head up defiantly. She stared back at Connor, keeping her eyes locked on his. "I love you," she mouthed to him.

"WAIT!" I just need a few more days. Four, five at the most."

The man holding the gun on Abby moved his aim from her head to her knee.

"Maybe just a little incentive?" Mr. Canalla queried.

"NO, PLEASE. Four… four days. I swear… I swear it'll be ready."

"You **will** be ready to perform your test first thing in the morning on the fourth day. That gives you three days to work. Take Miss Maitland back to her room."

"It'll be OK Abby," Connor called. She looked back at him one more time before being pulled from the room. He nodded reassuringly to her, mouthed the words "I love you," back to her, and then she was gone.

As soon as Abby was gone from the room, one of the soldiers caught him with a punch to his stomach doubling him over in pain. This was followed with a very sharp backhand to the right side of his face, the man's ring catching the flesh across his cheek. Connor was on his knees at this point, one arm curled protectively over his abdomen, the other held up over his head defensively. The soldier seized his upraised arm and twisted it behind him, he then grabbed a fistful of Connor's hair with his other hand wrenching his head back so that Connor was forced to look up at Mr. Canalla who now stood over him. Connor winced as he tried to catch his breath, his teeth clenched tight.

"If I were you, Mr. Temple, I would not reassure her about things you have no control over."

Connor's face darkened. He had suspected that they might try to kill Abby and him, but this was the closest they had come to actually saying it.

"I have been more than gracious with the two of you," Mr. Canalla continued, "and all I have received is one delay after another. I think you should spend some time on your own while you finish this project. To help you focus your time more efficiently. Go and fetch your things from Miss Maitland's room.

The guard forcefully pulled Connor to his feet by his hair and his arm. Connor knew there was no discussing this; if he tried they would just hurt him some more. Connor hung his head and followed them down the hall wiping away the blood oozing down his cheek. Connor was out of time and he knew it.

"I'll give you a few minutes to collect your things." Mr. Canalla opened the door.

Abby looked up from where she sat cradling her sore wrist and her eyes widened when she took in the raw red gash on Connor's cheek that was quickly darkening to a new purple bruise.

"Oh, my God, what did they do to you?"

"I'm fine Abby."

She reached out to touch his face and he caught her hand and held it, gazing at her intently. He hated what he had to tell her.

"I'm fine," he said again. He took a deep breath, "They're separating us. You're staying here and I'm going to… to another room."

He leaned in and kissed her cheek, then whispered, "I have four days, then all of this should be over. No matter what, you stay close to me when possible. I'll get us home safely, OK."

"Connor, you can't give them unfettered access to that technology, no matter how much they threaten me."

"Already taken care of Love, don't worry. You're idea is already in place." He smiled down at her.

His expression saddened just a little, "I miss you already. Just promise me you'll stay calm. I'll get you out. All you'll have to do is stay close to me and do exactly as I tell you to, OK?"

"You sound like Cutter, he would be proud of you, you know." She smiled back at him. Connor pulled her into a fierce hug, pressing her to him as tightly as he could.

The door opened and Connor kissed her lightly, let her go, and hastily grabbed his things and was escorted from the room.

Mr. Canalla remained behind standing in the doorway.

Abby watched Connor go with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"I think it's time you and I had a chat Miss Maitland."

Abby looked at Mr. Canalla and nodded silently. Mr. Canalla stepped over to the bed and took a seat. He patted the mattress next to him. Abby reluctantly complied and sat down next to him.

"He's very fond of you, you know, our Mr. Temple."

"I know."

"I think he would probably die for you."

"Probably."

"You know what we have him working on?"

"I can guess."

"You've seen the technology before, yes?"

Abby nodded, "Helen had it from the future."

"Do you know where Helen got it from though?" Mr. Canalla kept a steady, unnerving gaze on her while they spoke.

Abby shook her head, her wrist was throbbing painfully, "No, we just knew it was from the future. We think it might have something to do with a future version of the ARC, but we're not sure about the timeline."

"The ARC indeed," Mr. Canalla responded. "Do you know why I chose Mr. Temple?"

"He's brilliant."

"Yes, but there are lots of brilliant people I could have chosen."

"Why then?"

"You cannot guess, Miss Maitland?"

Abby said nothing. Her mind was racing, but she didn't want to give anything away that might put Connor in more jeopardy.

"Yes," Canalla continued smoothly, "I think you can. The reason I chose Mr. Temple is because Mr. Temple is the person who invented the technology in the first place. Years in the future, of course, but it is his idea none the less." He smiled down at Abby, and she could have sworn he was enjoying the look of shock that flashed across her face. She quickly rearranged her features to appear more neutral.

"The only thing I've done is speed up the time table," Canalla went on. "If anyone else had pulled some of the things that Mr. Temple has pulled, I would have disposed of them immediately. I am not a man of patience, as you may have noticed. I have been more than patient with **him** though. It's why he is still alive. I needed his technology that came from his brain, and I needed it without any interference from the ARC. I also need the ARC to not have access to it."

Abby looked up sharply at this. The fact that it was Connor's technology was no real surprise, she had wondered about that when she realized they were walking around in the future version of the ARC. What alarmed her now was the fact that Canalla plainly did not want the ARC to get that technology…ever.

"You're not going to let us go," Abby said slowly, quietly. "You're going to kill us aren't you?"

"Maybe. But I need Connor to finish though."

"Connor won't give up without a fight."

"Perhaps. But that's why you're here, to keep any idiotic ideas of heroism out of his head."

"Connor's not an idiot, he's smarter than you give him credit for."

"That may be. But that is also, you see, why I can't have him running back to the ARC with all the information his brilliant, but naïve mind has figured out way ahead of schedule. I think he will be cooperative if he believes there is an out for you though. As I said, he'd sacrifice himself to save you."

Abby stared back at him horrified, he really was an evil man. But, he was also underestimating Connor; at least she hoped he was. Connor had a knack for getting out of tough situations. She had to hope he could pull off another escape.

"Why are you telling me all this?" she asked.

"Because, Miss Maitland, I believe you care for him very much as well."

"I do."

"Well, if my plan is to silence Connor Temple, there are a lot of ways that that can be done. Some more painful than others."

Abby's face contorted with horror and disgust. "NO! You can't actually kill Connor. Please, I love him, he's my best friend, please."

"You will heal, and get over it, in time."

"Why would you let me go and not him?"

"You can't upset my plans. He can. And by the time you get back and warn anyone at the ARC, I'll be long gone and solidly in control of history by then. There will be nothing you can do about it."

Abby had started to feel violent tremors course down her spine at this point and the next words from Mr. Canalla made her loose all hope that anything could be done.

"Connor Temple is going to die. It will be up to you if he suffers or not. You just make sure he cooperates and that my test goes off without a hitch. Anything less than that, any interruption or heroics on Connor's part and… well, you get the point. Think about my offer. I'll let you know when I need an answer."

Mr. Canalla got up and walked out of the room, leaving Abby in stunned silence. She looked down at the floor, completely overwhelmed, a single tear slipped down her cheek and then the flood of emotions overtook her. She slipped to her side on the bed and pulled Connor's pillow to her. She sobbed and sobbed into his pillow. She eventually drifted off to sleep that night, but found no relief in it.

When she woke from her nightmares he wasn't there to wrap his deceptively strong arms around her and to soothe her. All she could think of was, _what if he's never there again_. She didn't want to think about it, but that was all her mind would give her.

The next day, night, and then the following day brought no relief to her. Connor's smile wasn't there at the end of each day. She constantly worried they had already killed him. But she knew the test hadn't taken place yet, so that gave her some comfort. She did very little other than lie on the bed and hold Connor's pillow. It smelled like him. She went over her options time and again, looking for a way out.

Connor had told her he could get them out of it. He said that she needed to stay close to him and do exactly as he said. But what if he was unsuccessful in his bid to get them home? If she defied Mr. Canalla and he won, what would they do to Connor? Would they really make his death as painful as possible? Would they make her watch? And then possibly kill her too? Who was she to listen to? Day three drew to a close and she continued to wrestle with these questions. She finally decided that it came down to one question, did she trust Connor or not? This would have to be the basis for any decision she made. It was late, and Canalla's test was supposed to be tomorrow morning.

She was exhausted from worry. As she slipped into her dreams she thought she heard a knock on the door…


	10. The Quiet Before the Storm

**A/N: This has already been published over on my LJ page, but this version has been revised. It will be a little darker and more violent. So, if you read it over there, this one's a bit different. There are two chapters that will have an M rating because of the changes and additions, but most of it will be T. Thanks for reading, and as always, please, please, please review.**

******Disclaimer**: Primeval and its characters belong to Impossible Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Chapter 10 – The Quiet Before the Storm**

When Connor was taken from Abby's room he was led back down the stairs to the lower floor. He hadn't been back down here since those first few days in captivity. He didn't like the memories it brought back. He could have sworn that he felt the now healed electrical burns start tingling again. It was colder down here, and wetter. The smell of musty basement permeated everything. He shivered.

He was pretty sure he was taken right back to the room he'd been in when Tom had first patched him up. It was still little more than a basement storage room with an attached bathroom. The cot though, had been switched out for a heavy metal frame bed. Connor noticed a couple of other new additions to the room also: chains. He swallowed hard and looked back at Tom.

"Sorry mate, Canalla's orders. He doesn't want you getting any ideas."

"Aw, come on Tom, what am I gonna do, huh? Run away? Without Abby? Who is he kidding? I haven't ever tried to run, not once."

"Still, like I told you before, I'm a soldier and I follow orders. I'm sorry."

Connor was allowed to use the bathroom first and get ready for bed. Tom waited until he was ready and sitting on the bed. Connor had his knees pulled up to his chest and he had paled visibly with anxiety and unease at the prospect of being chained up all night. Tom grabbed the chain attached to the wall and pulled up the hem of Connor's pyjama bottoms.

"Please, Tom, I'm not going to go anywhere."

"Connor, I'm sorry, I really am, but you remember what I told you earlier today. It's not just your head on the chopping block. He already thinks I'm too soft with you. It's why he ordered **me** to do it. Now, please, don't make this anymore difficult."

He locked the shackle around Connor's leg. It wasn't tight, but it was heavy. It would rub. Tom pulled the hem of his pant leg back down.

"I really am sorry, Connor. Please believe me."

"Yeah, OK, but you still did it didn't you. Just, let me go to sleep, OK, Tom? We've got a lot of work to do yet and I'm tired."

Tom looked at Connor sadly, he was right of course, but Tom didn't like this at all. It **wasn't** right. Tom looked at the other set of chains. _Maybe tomorrow_. He couldn't bring himself to completely restrain the defeated young man in front of him. He'd deal with the consequences if anyone said anything. He turned and left the room, locking the door behind him.

Connor lay on the bed angry and frustrated. As soon as Tom left he sat back up. He needed to think. He kicked his chained leg out angrily, growling to himself. He was so aggravated with his whole new predicament. It wasn't that it interrupted any plans, it was that it was just so unnecessary. Why was Canalla being like this? He took a deep breath. He needed to focus.

He pulled the small scraps of paper and pen he had smuggled from his work space out of his pyjama pocket and wrote down the new timetable for his plan. He'd put it through another anomaly first chance he had tomorrow. Hopefully the earlier notes had got to the right place. Otherwise he was libel to get his hand bit off sticking it somewhere he shouldn't. This thought made him chuckle. He lay back down and tried to sleep.

The nightmares came again and again, and each time he was startled awake cold and alone. The first thing he noticed each time was the cold metal pressing uncomfortably around his ankle. Morning couldn't come soon enough. The hours dragged on. The thin blanket was nowhere near enough, and he missed Abby's warmth lying next to him. Connor finally slipped into another exhausted fitful sleep.

He woke up stiff and shivering to the sound of the metal door opening and Tom coming in. Tom unlocked the cuff around his leg and Connor swung himself off the bed. As he was heading for the shower his eyes alighted on a second set of chains dangling off the head of the bed. He did a double take but didn't stop walking.

When he got into the shower he shuddered and then mentally made himself focus on what he had to do today.

When he was ready, Tom opened the door.

"Before we go, I want to prepare you for something you're not going to like."

"What are Canalla's orders this time?"

"He wants to make sure he knows where you are at all times."

"What does that mean?"

"It means," Tom took a deep breath. "It means that I have to chain you to your desk until the test in a few days."

"Aw, come on. Are you serious? This is ridiculous."

"I know, but I wanted to prepare you. Please don't make a scene upstairs. Don't give him the satisfaction."

"Fine." Connor knew he couldn't win and that Tom was right, he couldn't give Canalla the satisfaction. This time he didn't hang his head. He took a note from Abby and held his head high as he walked up the stairs and into the main room.

He sat down at his desk and made no indication he even noticed except for a small flinch as the shackle locked around his leg. He immediately got to work.

"Good man," Tom whispered. "It'll all be over soon," he said with his hand on Connor's shoulder.

Connor bided his time and as soon as he could he opened another diminutive anomaly under his desk and passed his notes through.

To his utter shock before he pulled his hand back through, another hand grabbed his and he felt a note pressed into his palm followed by a firm, reassuring grasp. As soon as the other hand let go Connor withdrew his own and quickly closed the anomaly just in the nick of time.

Connor kept working the rest of the day, not daring to read the note. At this point everything was set, he didn't want to jeopardize it. All he was doing now was keeping up appearances and hoping against all odds that the hand on the other side of the anomaly meant they could do what he asked. God he was ready to go home; just a few more days.

At the end of the day Tom walked him back down to what was effectively his cell. Connor's ankle was stinging already from the heavy metal cuff rubbing against it constantly. Connor walked into his bathroom and closed the door behind him. He pulled the note out of his pocket and read it. It was short and to the point, but it gave him more hope than anything in the past two months. He could have literally jumped for joy.

_Whatever you decide and whenever you want to act, _

_we'll be ready. We're with you both._

_ -Danny_

He felt a huge smile spread across his face and he knew he had to hide it. He had a part to play and he had to play it to ensure that everything went his way. He dropped the note into the toilet and then proceeded to get ready for bed. He made sure he flushed the toilet completely when he was all finished.

He walked out of the bathroom and it was like déjà vu. Mr. Canalla was standing by Tom waiting for him. Connor froze.

"What's going on?" he asked shakily.

"I'm here to make sure Tom actually follows orders tonight."

"What… What does that mean. He did what you ordered. He chained me up."

Connor's eyes involuntarily went to the second set of chains he had noticed that morning.

"You're not stupid, Mr. Temple. You know he didn't completely follow orders."

"I'm not going to run away," Connor said softly. "I wouldn't leave Abby, you know that. Why are you doing this?"

Mr. Canalla smiled down at Connor, "you are a very important key to my plans, consider this extra insurance."

Connor decided not to push it. "I'm not going to fight it, I'll cooperate, but I just want you to know it's not necessary at all. You already have me securely locked up and you have Abby as insurance." He knew there was something else going on here, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

He went over and sat on the bed, swinging his legs up and pulling his knees up to his chest again. Tom's hands were shaking, but Connor couldn't tell if it was from fear or anger. He locked the ring around Connor's ankle and this time there was a second shackle that extended from the first and locked around his other leg.

"Lie back," Tom said calmly, "put your arms through the bars."

Connor took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. He laid on his back and put his arms through the bars as he had been instructed. He blinked away the tears that threatened. He refused to show any reaction while Canalla was in the room. He closed his eyes while Tom locked the handcuffs around each wrist.

When he opened his eyes, Mr. Canalla was standing over him smiling down. Connor stared straight up at the ceiling.

"Comfy?" Canalla asked in mock concern

"Peachy," Connor responded shortly.

"Excellent. I just have one more thing to add." Mr. Canalla sat on the edge of the bed and produced a long dirty strip of cloth with a large knot tied in the middle of it.

"No, please, I'm not going to do anything. Please." Connor saw the look of disgust on Tom's face and the small shake of his head at him out of the corner of his eye. He closed his mouth and stared back heatedly at Mr. Canalla.

"Open up..." he said playfully. He forced the knot between Connor's teeth and tied it exceptionally tight behind his head. Connor grunted as his head dropped back to the mattress. Canalla had moved his pillow to the floor.

"Sweet dreams, Mr. Temple." Canalla said as he half patted half slapped Connor's cheek jovially, but hard and then turned and walked from the room.

"I'll be back first thing in the morning. I promise. I'm really sorry about this. I tried to talk him out of it, but he insisted."

Connor stared back at him and nodded, a single tear slipped down his cheek.

"Tom, we have business to attend to," Canalla called from the hallway. Tom reached down and wiped the tear away.

"Your better than he is, he's not really a soldier, he's a coward and a bully. Don't let him win son." Connor nodded again.

Tom turned the light out and locked the door behind him.

Connor lay stretched out on the bed. He was determined not to cry, but the longer he lay there and the more stiff his shoulders became, the harder it was to fight off all the emotion. His mind settled on a compromise. Silent tears flowed down his cheeks, but not a sound came from his dry mouth. He sniffled a little, and wiped his face on his sleeve. He was so frustrated. He wished he could figure out why Canalla was doing this.

After a while he remembered the note he had received. He took a deep breath through his nose and wiped his eyes again. He wasn't alone, not even here, gagged and chained to the bed. Help was waiting in the wings; back up was on the way; just one more day and one more night.

Sadly, this was one of the worst, most uncomfortable nights Connor had experienced yet. The only nights that had been worse were that first night tied to a chair, and the night he and Abby had been beaten.

He could not get comfortable, it was still cold, and he couldn't curl up to keep himself warm. He spent most of the night jerking awake from his nightmares and shivering severely from both the cold and the muscle spasms that settled in on his body. His jaw ached from being kept open. He sometimes forgot to not bite down and got a fresh taste of the disgusting knot in his mouth. What little sleep he did get was not remotely refreshing.

True to his word, Tom arrived first thing in the morning. He took in the sight of Connor shivering violently and quickly moved to unlock the restraints. He then reached around and untied the gag. Tom helped Connor sit up slowly, his shoulders aching terribly from the enforced position he'd been in all night, and agave him a bottle of water. Connor sipped on it gratefully desperate to get the foul taste out of his mouth. Tom wrapped a blanket around his shoulders and sat down next to him. He handed him a jar of mineral ice.

"I'm a little early," he said, "why don't you go take a shower, and then put that on your shoulders. It'll help ease the discomfort. Oh, and I brought you these." He handed Connor a new pair of black fingerless gloves.

"Thanks. That's um… that's very kind of you." Connor's voice was still raspy from being gagged all night as he took the jar and the gloves and headed for the shower. Tom was right, between the hot water and the mineral ice, his discomfort was greatly reduced. The only thing that the hot water didn't feel good on was the raw skin around his ankle. Thankfully one night of restraints on his other ankle and wrists hadn't done much damage, just a little bruising around his wrists.

Tom walked him back up to the main room and chained Connor to the desk again.

Tom couldn't help but notice Connor's sharp hiss of pain as the shackle was fixed around his leg.

"That doesn't look so good," Tom said. "I'll be back in a minute."

When he returned he had his medical kit with him. He took the chain off and cleaned the raw area. Connor hissed a few times, but otherwise kept quiet. Tom put a salve on the wound, wrapped a thick bandage around his ankle, and then fixed the chain back in place.

"Thank you," Connor told him with as much sincerity as he could muster.

All Connor had to do was get through today and tonight and, if everything went according to plan, then he would be home with Abby by tomorrow night. Hopefully.

The day dragged on. He could have sworn that the clocks were actually running backwards. Mr. Canalla was in and out all day long. Connor tried his best to not let this unnerve him. And, at the end of the day, Connor decided he had to challenge him.

"Mr. Canalla, sir," he called to him, "can I ask you something?"

Canalla nodded and walked over to him.

Connor took a deep breath and plowed on, "I'm not stupid. I know you're probably going to kill Abby and me. I'm not asking you to lie to me, but if these are my last few hours, let me spend them with Abby, please. I don't want to be cold and alone if… if this is it. I promise you, the device will work for your test tomorrow. Please, I've worked and done everything you've asked. Just let me see her."

He finally looked up at the cruel man in front of him as he finished his request. Connor wasn't sure, but it seemed that something about his request pleased Mr. Canalla in some way.

"I **suppose** I could allow that, since this is your last night… here."

Connor looked at him quizzically, but all he managed to say was, "Thank you, sir," He supposed that any conversation with Mr. Canalla he could walk away from without nursing new injuries was a good one.

Tom walked him down the hall to Abby's room.

"I know you want to spend as much time with Miss Maitland as possible, so don't worry about your things, I'll have them brought to you."

"Thanks Tom."

Connor knocked on the door before Tom opened it. As soon as Connor stepped through the door and saw Abby curled up on the bed, he knew something was wrong. Even closed, her eyes were red and puffy. She had **obviously** been crying, and crying a lot by the sight of it. She was clutching his pillow tightly. So much of this scene reminded him of the first night she had been brought here when he'd had to unstrap her from the bed.

The lights were off except for a small sliver of light coming from the bathroom where the door wasn't shut all the way. Connor turned around and flipped the lights on. When he turned back around Abby caught him completely off guard by slamming into him and wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. He wrapped his arms around her in response and kissed the top of her head. She was sobbing hysterically into his chest.

"Hey… hey… it's gonna be OK. What's the matter? What's wrong Love, talk to me. Calm down, Abby, please. Talk to me." Nothing he said would calm her. He pulled her over to the bed, held her in his arms, and let her cry it all out. He petted her hair and soothed her as best he could but it took her a good half hour to get a hold of herself.

As he sensed her calming down, he ventured a try at getting her to talk again.

"Abby, please Sweetheart, tell me why you're so up set, did... did some one... hurt you?" he asked tentatively. He'd never forgive himself if the answer was yes.

Abby looked up at him and made her decision right then and there. She didn't need to wait for Canalla to ask.

She leaned up kissed him on the cheek and then began to whisper as she pulled him down until he was laying next to her on the bed, "They're gonna kill you Connor."

Through her resurgent tears Abby recounted her **entire** conversation with Mr. Canalla in quiet whispers.

"So it **is** my fault," Connor said, "I do destroy the future."

"Connor, you can't know that and neither can Canalla. You would never do anything like that. At this point, how do we know he's not the one who destroys the future? Anyways that is **so** not the point right now. The point right now is what are we going to do?"

Connor smiled a huge smile at her, "Don't worry, like I said before, we're gonna be just fine. You just stay close to me. You stay with me, you understand?"

"Yeah, I stay with you."

Connor leaned down and kissed her and she put her arms around his neck and drew him closer her fingers curling into his hair.

Connor finally pulled away long before Abby wanted to let go. He leaned his forehead against hers.

"I want us to be together but… I don't want us to be together just because we're afraid. I love you Abby, but let's wait until we're clear and safely home, OK?"

"I love you Connor, I should have told you that ages ago. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

"You're not going to lose me. Neither one of us is going to die. I promise, you and I are going to walk out of here tomorrow together. The cavalry's on its way, you just stay close and as long as you're with me, everything will be fine."

The door opened and Tom came in with Connor's things. Mr. Canalla hovered in the doorway. Leaning casually against the frame. There was nothing about his look that gave away the fact that he was plotting to murder at least one of the people imprisoned in the room before him. He fixed his glare on Abby and gave her a knowing nod.

Abby suppressed a shudder and nodded back at him. She hoped he read her expression as an affirmative answer to his question. She didn't want him to take Connor away again. She didn't want him to realize she was not going to help him lull Connor into doing nothing.

She had finally realized that if she agreed to Canalla's request to talk Connor out of any heroics, then they would certainly kill him. Even if it was quick and painless, she couldn't live with that. She'd rather go down fighting by his side, than to have him slip away in her arms. If she stood by him and his, probably, crazy plan, at least they both stood a chance. They might just survive… maybe… if they stuck together like Connor said…maybe. She looked away from Canalla's stare.

Tom told them he'd see them in the morning and to get some sleep. He left with Canalla and the door locked behind them.

Abby curled up against Connor and knotted his t-shirt in her hands pulling him closer. This made her wrist throb again, but she didn't care. She couldn't let go of him now.

"Can I ask you something?" she said tentatively.

"If you like."

"How come you could tell me how you felt here, but not back home?"

"Well, fear of dying, or of you dying, just seemed to put things in perspective I suppose. I mean, I just decided that if anything happened to you and I hadn't told you how I felt, for real… well, I just didn't think I could live with myself. I had to say something. And then there was that… that… night… with the beating, and I just couldn't let you go on with out you knowing. I figured it was worth it, even if you didn't feel the same about me."

Abby lay there listening to Connor explain his reasons for finally coming clean with her and she thought for a moment before she responded.

"Connor," she looked up straight into his eyes. She didn't want there to be anymore misunderstandings, "I'm sorry I waited so long to clear the air between us. I've known how I've felt for a long time, but I was just scared you didn't still feel the same. Especially after all the pushing away I've done to you. But you're right; this whole mess that we're stuck in, it… it makes me realize that I've wasted so much time. I didn't want you to die and me not have told you either. I don't want to have anymore regrets."

Connor smiled down at her.

"I guess that out of all this bad, we might find some good, yeah?"

"Yeah," Abby replied, smiling herself.

"Get some sleep, I think we have an early start tomorrow." He kissed her head again and then lay back.

After the emotional last few days that Abby had, she quickly fell asleep, the weight of the last few days and all she had left unsaid finally gone. She rested her head just above his heart so she could hear it beating, even as she slept.

Connor lay awake, his arm around Abby. He absent-mindedly ran his fingers up and down her arm. She slept fitfully mumbling and tossing a bit. He guessed that her sleep was tinged with worry about tomorrow.

At one point Connor leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Shhh, Love, I'm here, it's OK. Shhh, shhh."

"Connor," she murmured, but she didn't wake, her hand still knotted up in his shirt.

Between the occasional dozes, Connor thought about what Abby had said. About how much she loved him and also what Canalla had told her. _He truly was an evil man, to have told Abby all that, and then left her alone for two days. No wonder she had been so hysterical when he came through the door_. But, real genuine sleep eluded him. He finally drifted into another light doze at around 4:00 in the morning. It was blessedly free of nightmares.


	11. Stay with Me

**A/N: This has already been published over on my LJ page, but this version has been revised. It will be a little darker and more violent. So, if you read it over there, this one's a bit different. There are two chapters that will have an M rating because of the changes and additions, but most of it will be T. Thanks for reading, and as always, please, please, please review.**

******Disclaimer**: Primeval and its characters belong to Impossible Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Chapter 11 – Stay with Me**

Connor woke up suddenly at about 6:30 in the morning. He was tired but this time it was his turn to be surprised. Abby was staring up at him and smiling, though her expression was tainted with a little worry.

"I didn't mean to wake you, sorry," she said sheepishly.

"S'OK, I like the view," and he leaned down and kissed her temple.

Abby reached her hand up and stroked the dark circles under his eyes. He closed his eyes as he thrilled to her touch like always.

"You ready to go home?" he asked. "Remember," he whispered, "just stay with me, no matter what, you do as I tell you to. You don't leave my side for anything."

"I stay with you," she whispered back. She pecked him on the lips and rolled out of his arms and out of bed.

"If we're going home, then I want to look presentable," she explained when she noted his crestfallen expression at her sudden withdrawal from his embrace.

With that, she smiled, grabbed a change of clothes and headed into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Connor felt strangely empty and a little paranoid with her not next to him. He got up and paced the room in front of the bathroom. At least she was quick this morning. She came out 20 minutes later looking amazing as always and he could have sworn that she smelled like fresh flowers. _How did she do that?_

He took his turn in the shower next and hurried to get ready as fast as he could. They ended up with five minutes to spare before the 7:30 knock at the door.

When the guards showed up, Connor put his arm around Abby and pulled her through the door with him. He came into the big room with his arm still around Abby's shoulder.

Tom met him at his desk and handed him the anomaly device. Connor took it from him and when another guard stepped up to pull Abby away from him, he stepped in front of her. He kept his arm around her, but positioned his body between her and the soldier.

"No, she stays with me. How do I know you're not going to shoot her or shove her through the anomaly? She stays with me." The last words were directed straight at Mr. Canalla with Connor staring him in the eye the whole time. The soldier looked from Connor to his supervisor.

"You wish for her to stay with you, you will consent to my soldiers handcuffing her. A compromise if you will?" Connor swallowed hard and looked down at Abby. She nodded once and he looked back at Canalla and in turn nodded his agreement. He watched with a pained expression as the soldiers pulled Abby's arms behind her and handcuffed her. He noted with some alarm the small cry of pain and the fleeting agonized expression that came over her face when the guards moved her wrists around. Connor moved him and Abby around to the left so that they stood next to a steel desk that looked more like a mini bunker than a desk.

Connor weakly smiled down at Abby, "Ready to go home?" he asked again.

"Yeah," she replied with a slight grimace at the discomfort from the cuffs.

Connor used his arm that wasn't curled protectively around Abby to punch the instructions into the machine. He closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and pressed the last button. A huge bright spinning ball of diamond shards opened up in the center of the room. A smoky fog began to immediately filter through the anomaly.

"Amazing." Tom stated.

As soon as the anomaly had opened, Connor immediately started counting silently in his head. He had a total of thirty seconds at most.

10… 11… 12… 13…

"OK," Mr. Canalla called after marveling at the sight in front of him for a few seconds. "Team One prepare to enter."

16… 17… 18… 19… 20…

Team One readied their weapons and geared up to walk through the anomaly.

23… 24… 25…

They never got the chance.

26… 27… 28…

At twenty-eight seconds Connor saw the black metal object he had been watching for come bouncing through the fog into the room. That was his signal. He yanked Abby down towards the steel desk and shoved her under it, following right behind.

Canalla yelled and made to shoot at Connor. Tom stepped in between Canalla's firing gun and Connor's turning back. The bullet spun him around and knocked him off his feet as it impacted with his bulletproof vest.

Connor cleared the desk just as the stun grenade went off. Tom lay dazed, just to the right of the desk. Connor reached out and took his side arm.

"What's going on?" Abby cried.

"Reinforcements and rescue party." Connor said, winking at her. He was smiling, but she could tell he was incredibly tense as well. They weren't out of the woods yet. Connor knelt on one knee under the desk positioned protectively in front of Abby. They hid in a tiny haven while all hell broke loose.

There were loud nerve-wracking cracks of gunfire erupting all around them. The most unsettling sounds were the sharp pings of bullets ricocheting off the desk itself.

When a guard running in front of the desk spotted him and turned towards them with his gun raised, there was no hesitation in Connor's reaction. He took aim and fired his stolen weapon, just like Becker had been training him to do. There was a shocked expression that crossed the man's face before he dropped backwards to the ground and lay motionless, blood pooling out from his position.

Connor saw Tom's legs start to stir and as Tom started to sit up there was another loud ping off the right side of the desk. The part of Tom that he could see jerked violently, then dropped back to the floor and was quite still. Connor didn't dare peek his head out to check on him, but his stomach turned over inside. He hoped he was OK, but he had a sinking feeling that that was not going to be the case.

He took a deep breath and tried to focus. His one goal at this point was to protect Abby. He shot at two more soldiers who appeared in front of their hiding place, winging at least one of them in the arm, bright red spray shooting out of the man's left shoulder.

He shunted Abby to the very back right corner of the small space and tried to keep as much of her behind him as possible. She cried out in pain as the quick movement jostled her wrist.

"Sorry," he said quickly.

He fired the gun again at a fourth soldier who came at them with a raised knife. The shot hit the man square in his bulletproof vest knocking him backward.

Connor wasn't sure how much more of this he could take.

The man with the big blade rolled over and started to crawl away. Another bullet from a different direction caught him under his arm as he reached forward and he slumped, unmoving, to floor. A large pool of blood was already spreading outward from his body as well.

Connor's stomach churned and he tasted bile rising up his throat.

A bullet pinged off the inside of the desk. Connor had actually felt it cross inches from his face from right to left at almost the same time he heard it impact the desk and ricochet down into the concrete. He backed up further under the desk and tried to regain his focus. The distractingly loud gunfire and rebounding bullets were making this difficult. That last bullet had been so close Connor was now very aware of his own mortality and terrified that they weren't going to make it.

After what seemed like an eternity the gunfire began to quiet. When a few more minutes passed it suddenly stopped all together. He prayed silently that Canalla's side had not won.

"CLEAR," a familiar voice shouted. There was something that sounded like boots marching to every corner of the room and out down the adjacent hallways.

Then there was another wonderfully familiar voice echoing through the room. "Abby? Connor? Are you OK? Connor, don't shoot mate." Danny Quinn poked his head around the edge of the desk.

Abby peaked out at him from behind Connor. Connor's hands, which had been steady a few minutes before were now shaking terribly as he still held the gun up in front of him.

"Connor," Becker's voice from the other side of the opening, "put the gun down mate. It's over, you're OK."

Connor looked from one man to another. He let out a slow tremulous breath and lowered the gun. Danny reached out and took it from him.

"Come on guys, let's get you two checked out." Danny said gently.

Connor and Abby crawled out of their hiding place and looked around, Abby with much help from Connor.

"Are you OK, Love?" he asked. Danny and Becker exchanged looks at this little exchange as if to say, _well, it's about time_.

"Yeah, I just need to get these off."

"Why didn't you tell me your wrist was still bothering you?"

"I didn't now if we'd survive and I didn't want to waist the time on my stupid wrist."

Becker came over and produced a handcuff key making short work of the cuffs. Connor kissed her sore wrist and told her it'd be better soon. He turned sadly to survey the damage.

Connor stepped over and then crouched down next to Tom. He reached out and closed Tom's eyelids. He tried to avoid seeing the ugly bullet wound that had torn open his neck, but failed completely.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to the dead man. Tears flowed down his cheeks and he felt the weight of the last few months press down on him again. It didn't feel over, even if it was. He was deeply saddened that Tom hadn't survived. _Of all the soldiers, why did it have to be Tom? _Reardon, Connor finally noticed his ID badge. His last name had been Reardon. Connor made a mental note to see if he had any family that would need to be notified.

Abby put her hand on Connor's shoulder. "Come on, Conn. Let's go home."

Connor got up and wiped his eyes. He couldn't help but walk past the first man he'd shot. He was laying on his back with his legs crumpled under him at an odd angle. There was a bullet hole right in the middle of his chest just above the protective layer of his body armor.

"Good shot mate," said Becker from beside Connor.

"Doesn't feel like it," Connor responded.

"Hey, he was going to kill you, and Abby. You did what you had to do. Self defense, yeah."

Connor pulled in another shaky breath. "Yeah, I suppose."

He turned away from the dead man and surveyed the rest of the room. Dead and wounded soldiers from both sides littered the floor, including the other soldiers he had shot at. It appeared that, in total, he had killed the one guard, wounded the second AND third soldiers and then aided the death of the last soldier. It appeared the majority of the casualties seemed to be from the side that had taken Abby and him. Those that had survived were on their knees and being corralled by Becker's men. They were systematically zip-tying each of their wrists behind their backs.

In the front of the group already restrained, trying desperately to blend in with his soldiers, knelt Mr. Canalla. His carefully tailored suit made his blending efforts pointless. Connor walked over toward him.

"Is he the one in charge?" Danny asked. Connor nodded in return. All his anger towards this man for everything that had happened over the past two months began to boil to the surface.

When Mr. Canalla looked up at him defiantly and spat at him and Danny, Connor snapped for the second time in as many weeks. His fingerless gloved hands turned into fists. He struck Canalla in the head and torso over and over again, screaming incoherently. Once Becker and Danny recovered from the shock of seeing Connor act so violently, they pulled him away from Canalla before he could hit him again.

Abby stepped between him and Canalla and pushed him farther back when she could see he was still seething.

"Connor stop. It's over Love and he's not worth it." She wrapped her arms around him as his rage disolved into sobs. She looked over his shoulder at Danny and Becker. She gingerly pulled up the back of Connor's shirt to reveal the livid red scars that crisscrossed his back. There were audible gasps from both men and some of the other soldiers.

The sentiment was clear and universal, _how could anyone do that to Connor of all people?_

Danny and Becker stared in disbelief at what they saw, their faces darkening with rage and their eyes narrowing.

After another minute or two Connor regained control of himself and wiped his eyes on the back of his gloves then smiled down at Abby.

"Sorry," he said softly.

"No need," Abby said taking his hand in hers. "Come on. Danny, we'd like to go home now."

"Uh, yeah, right, I'm sure you do. Becker you and your men can deal with this right?"

"Yes, sir"

"Good, we'll figure out what to do with **that** one later." He indicated Mr. Canalla. Abby, Connor, and Quinn turned towards the anomaly and home.

"Oh, wait a minute," Connor called as he dashed back over to the desk he'd hid under and retrieved the anomaly device from under it.

"Oi, Becker," he called over his shoulder as he walked back over to Abby. "Make sure your men get all these computers with my research and work.

"Of course," Becker replied.

Connor took Abby's hand again and they stepped through the anomaly.

* * *

As soon as Connor, Abby, and Danny were through the anomaly Becker walked over to Canalla.

"How could you do that to Connor? He wouldn't hurt a fly, and you broke him. You'll pay for that," Becker said coldly. Becker leaned down and, in a deadly whisper, stated, "I'm not like Connor." And, after giving him a look of absolute disgust, he struck him in the back of the head with the butt of his very large gun.

* * *

The bright familiar lights of the ARC were a welcome sight after being cooped up in the warehouse. But even then, all Abby and Connor wanted was to get outside.

But that would have to wait. They both had to be cleared by medical and debriefed. Abby sat with Connor while the doctor looked him over. The bullet that had passed so near him had actually hit him. It had grazed his left shoulder. With all the adrenaline, he hadn't even noticed until he tried to take off his shirt and found his arm hurt terribly. Abby held his hand while the doctor stitched the gash closed. Even though it had required stitches, it was a relatively minor wound. Connor didn't say anything the entire time. He just winced and gasped occasionally. The doctor also cleaned and re-bandaged the raw ring around his ankle. Lastly, the doctor's attention then turned to the scars on Connor's back.

"You cleaned these up?" he asked of Abby.

"Yeah, as best I could."

"You did a fine job with what you had. Honestly, I'm not sure I could have done better with the same minimal supplies."

"Will they always be so dark?" Connor asked quietly. It was the first thing he'd said since coming into the infirmary.

"No, they'll always be there, but they will lighten and level out."

"Good," was his only response.

"What are all these smaller marks across your ribs?" the doctor asked him. "They look like electrical burns."

"They are, but they're about two months old. They've healed."

The doctor looked up sharply at him. "My God, what all did they do to you?"

"I'm fine," Connor said, reaching for his t-shirt, "Isn't that all that matters?" He really wasn't ready to deal with all this. Abby leaned in and kissed him on the temple, her fingers were still threaded through his.

"He'll be fine doc. I'll keep an eye on him."

Abby, as it turned out, was fine except for a small fracture in her wrist from it being twisted. The doctor put a bright neon pink cast on her arm and informed her that it should heal fairly quickly. Abby told Connor he could be the first to sign it.

After this they had to debrief with Lester and Danny. Both men were very interested in the new technology Connor had invented and the fact that Connor would have been it's ultimate inventor anyway. They all agreed they would have to be very careful with it and make every effort to not let the future they had seen actually happen.

Danny and Becker were tasked with dealing with Canalla. The both exchanged dark grins at the thought of this. They needed information from him as to how he knew what he knew and why he had done what he had done. If they succeeded in satisfying their need for revenge, then that would just be an added bonus to the job set before them. They really wanted to give him a taste, and feel, of his own medicine.

Danny drove Abby and Connor home later that day. They were informed that Sarah had their pets and would be bringing them over later. They were both so tired after all they had been through, but neither of them wanted to be indoors, but it had started raining. They stood at the door of the flat with it open looking out at the rain.

"Come on," Connor said. He grabbed an oversized umbrella from the stand, opened it up, and put his arm around Abby. They walked in silence for a while toward a nearby park. They breathed the fresh air in deeply and marveled at the fact that they had survived and were free.

"Are you alright?" Abby asked Connor, sensing his lingering unease.

"I think… I think I **will** be. I still keep feeling like I need to be looking over my shoulder all the time."

"I know what you mean." Abby leaned her head against Connor.

"Abby, can I ask you something?"

"Of course you can, you can always talk to me."

"I just wanted to know… I mean… Did you… Did you mean what you said last night, or were you just saying that because… 'cause you thought we were going to die? It's OK if you did, you know. Things were a little close there. I mean, I was a little out of sorts myself-"

"Connor," Abby interrupted. He was rambling. "I meant **everything** I said. I love you and I should have realized it and told you ages ago. I can't bear it if we're not together. I—"

She never finished her sentence. His lips captured hers and smothered her declarations with his unspoken ones. The umbrella slipped from over their heads as his arms locked around her. He pulled away only long enough to breath the words, "I love you."

The rain eventually became a bit problematic and they had to find shelter. They turned for home but walked at a **very** slow pace, arm in arm, back under the umbrella.

**A/N: Epilogue to follow shortly. Please let me know if you've enjoyed my story by reviewing. I am currently working on another story, but my vacation time is getting in the way. Reviews help me focus. :-)**


	12. Epilogue

**A/N: This has already been published over on my LJ page, but this version has been revised. It will be a little darker and more violent. So, if you read it over there, this one's a bit different. There are two chapters that will have an M rating because of the changes and additions, but most of it will be T. Thanks for reading, and as always, please, please, please review.**

******Disclaimer**: Primeval and its characters belong to Impossible Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Epilogue**

Connor and Abby spent time in the park almost daily after their ordeal. After being locked up and terrorized for so long, there was something healing about being able to breathe fresh air and walk about wherever and whenever they wanted.

Things weren't back to normal, but they were getting there. Lester had ordered both of them into therapy with a psychiatrist. They were off field duty until they had a clean bill of mental as well as physical health.

Abby would have been cleared long before Connor, but in a private meeting with Lester she flat out refused to go back into the field until Connor was ready to go also. Lester acquiesced and they both understood it would be a while before the younger members of the ARC team were back to operating at full capacity again.

Apart from this, some things were even better than they had been before. For one thing, Abby and Connor had become completely inseparable both at work and at home. While they had depended on one another before, this was on a whole new level.

On the first night in the flat, Abby woke up with a nightmare at almost the same time as Connor was thrashing through his own. She crept up to his room and calmed him. She cradled his head in her lap when he woke up crying and carded her fingers through his hair whispering to him softly that it was OK, that they were safe now, that she was here, that it was OK. She then snuggled in beside him. They had slept together every night since, sometimes in her bed, sometimes in his. His nightmares always seemed to be a little worse and more intense than hers. They also lasted longer in terms of continued frequency long after she had managed to stop having nightmares. She guessed this was due in part to what they had done to him before she had joined him in captivity in addition to the things they had suffered together. She knew he hadn't told her all that they had done, he'd only mentioned some things and alluded to others. She figured he would someday, and she could wait.

During a particularly rough and intense therapy session that he had insisted Abby attend with him he told her and the psychiatrist **everything**. He had never told Abby all of what had happened. He had also never let on how much it had bothered him, how much it had hurt, how close he had come to almost giving in. In truth, the beating of both Abby and himself had been worse than the torture they had put him through, but he hadn't been ready to deal with that yet. This took him a long time to work through, but after that first emotional session with Abby, she was always there with him, by his side.

Abby was a bit shocked to find that Connor was rather old fashioned and wanted to do things properly in terms of there relationship. That apparently meant he wanted to wait when it came to an intimate physical relationship. Abby found this a bit frustrating, but it also made her want him all the more. This was especially true at night when she was curled up in his protective arms, but she never pushed him. She didn't want to shatter anything else in him. He had already been so broken over the last few months. He needed time to heal, emotionally as well as physically.

* * *

With Connor's new technology, things at the ARC were running smoother than ever. About the only thing they lacked was a way to predict the anomalies. Sarah was still working on that, trying to piece together any data from Cutter's map and the now destroyed artifact. They had also been able to add all of Connor's research, so they were making progress and could manage.

Becker and Quinn, who had not disclosed how angry they had been towards Canalla to Abby and Connor, took it in turns to interrogate him until they had divined all the information they wanted, and Canalla had the physical marks to prove it.

They discovered that Canalla's future self had paid him a visit about a year or so prior to Connor's abduction by way of a "borrowed" anomaly opener. Canalla had spent all the time in between preparing for his plan. His future self had apparently worked at the ARC and been fired by Connor for ethical violations. Future Canalla wanted all the power that control of the anomalies would bring him. He figured if he had the technology, he could shape history as he saw fit, with himself firmly in control. Canalla's future self had been insistent that the ARC could never get a hold of Connor again or his technology.

Once he admitted to Danny and Becker that his intention had been to execute Connor, and most likely Abby as collateral damage, their decision had been quite simple. They saw themselves as the big brothers to Abby and Connor. This was all done with Lester's secret, but silent approval as he was the ultimate big brother of the team.

They opened up a nice quiet Cretaceous era anomaly and shoved him through it. They stayed only long enough to witness a pack of hungry raptors having no trouble locating dinner. They still could not believe that someone would do the things that Canalla had done to Connor. This seemed a fitting end.

* * *

Three months had gone by and Connor could not have been happier. He sat on a park bench with Abby lying across his lap. She people watched while he read one of his favourite comic books.

Abby soon turned her people watching into Connor watching though. He met her gaze a few minutes later.

"Who's winning?" she asked.

"Doc Ock at the moment, but it'll be Spiderman in a few pages. MJ's life is on the line, so of course, he'll win." He put the book down and kissed her forehead. "Ready to go?" he asked

"No, not quite. The sun's still above the trees."

He smiled down at her, "Uh, Abby?"

"Hmm?" she responded lazily.

Connor reached into his waistcoat pocket, "Sit up for a minute will ya?"

Abby sat up, puzzled.

"Would you do me a favor?" He looked her straight in the eyes.

"What?"

"Marry me, I can't wait any longer." He held up the little black velvet box with the brilliantly sparkling ring in it he'd purchased a few weeks before.

Abby's hands flew up to cover her mouth, "OH!"

When she didn't say anything more his smile faltered a little.

"Is it too soon?" He didn't meet her gaze now. He lowered the ring. "It's too soon, forget I mentioned it."

She put her fingers under his chin and gently raised his gaze to hers.

"It's perfect," she said, tears glistening in her eyes.

"Yeah?" he asked, a little of the smile she loved so much coming back to his face.

"Yes, my answer is yes. I want to marry you. I want your name. I want you, Connor Temple." He kissed her gently. "Took you long enough," she breathed against his lips. He laughed.

He took her hand and slipped the ring onto her finger. "Perfect," he whispered.

* * *

Five Years Later

They were at the beach. Connor and Abby loved going to the beach. Their four-year-old twin, black-haired, blue-eyed boys played at the water's edge a few feet away. Abby sat next to Connor who was laying face down on the sand watching his sons chase the waves up and down the beach. Abby's hand was under his thin t-shirt lazily tracing along the scars on his back with her fingers. They had indeed lightened and become not so obvious. Even with that though, Connor was very self-conscious of them and rarely went without a shirt unless he was alone with Abby, who was currently wearing a white bikini.

"Daddy come play," called Stephen, the younger and slightly smaller of the two.

"Yeah, come on Dad," called Nicky, the more independent of the boys who had stopped chasing the waves and was poking at a clamshell.

"Coming," he called. He rolled over and looked at his wife, "You know I never get tired of hearing that."

"What?" Abby asked even though she already knew.

"Daddy," he said and smiled.

"You like that do you?" She kissed him lightly, "Would you like to hear it more often?"

"Huh?"

Abby had been waiting for just the right moment. She reached into her beach bag and pulled out a little pink plastic rattle.

"What…" he gasped, "You mean… It's pink…" he looked up into her eyes which were dancing with excitement. "Abby your… A girl… we're gonna have a girl?"

"Yup."

"Abby…" Words failed him utterly. "When?"

"In about six months. I found out late, and then I delayed telling you because I was waiting for the perfect time. I'm certain it's gonna be a girl. I was thinking we could name her Helen."

Connor looked at her doubtfully.

"Kidding," she said playfully, "Only kidding."

"Why are you so certain it's going to be a girl this time around?"

"Just call it woman's intuition. I just have a VERY strong feeling that it's a girl this time. It feels different. Have a little faith in me, yeah?"

He splayed his hand out across the tight muscles of her tummy, keeping his eyes locked on hers the entire time. He smiled up as her as he ran his hand over the tiny bump. He kissed her stomach just below her belly button then he leaned up and gently brushed his lips to hers before bringing his other hand up behind her neck and deepening the kiss. He closed his eyes... and was promptly tackled by his boys.

"Come on Dad," Nicky had become bored with the clamshell.

"We wanna play." They finished each other's sentences most of the time, well usually Stephen finished Nicky's sentences. Connor laughed.

"Alright, alright I'm coming you two, but you're gonna pay for interrupting me with your mum. You boys are no match for daddy, didn't I ever tell you about the time that I took on a full grown raptor..." The twins quealed with delight as Connor lept up to begin his pursuit.

In all the distractions, Connor looked over, before running into the water with his boys, and enjoyed a few more seconds staring at his beautiful wife, and the smile she returned was dazzling.

"What about Zoe? It means life."

"I kinda like that," Abby replied.

With another hard push from the boys before they started running and squealing again, Connor roared and ran after them picking them both up around the waist, one under each arm, and dragging them laughing into the water.

Abby watched her family playing in the waves. _Zoe_, she thought to herself. She rested her hand on the little bump that she was just beginning to feel. _Life, yeah that could work_. It was appropriate.

Five years ago she had thought they were going to die. She had been on the brink of losing everything, but that was also how she had managed to find everything. Connor was her life, and that had only grown with the addition of Nicky and Stephen. Now she could add even more.

She laid back and drifted into a drowsy haze with the sounds of laughter coming from her husband and sons. She felt the small jolting ping of a tiny foot bouncing off the inside of her abdomen, her breathing hitched and her heart flip-flopped again. _Zoe_, she smiled at the absolute perfection of this moment. She could hardly wait to meet her.

* * *

Six months later, almost to the day, Connor stood staring down at his beautiful little girl. She had his big chocolate-brown eyes and Abby's blond hair. She was perfect. She had captured her daddy's heart the from the first moment their identical eyes has met. She was destined to melt the heart of anyone who met her. She'd probably be a heart breaker when she grew up and leave a string of devastated boys in her wake. He'd be waiting to beat them all off with a stick. He cradled her in his arms as he looked over at a sleeping Abby. Her eyes fluttered open and their gazes met. He walked over as she sat up and he seated himself on the hospital bed next to her.

"She's perfect," he said. "You were brilliant."

"She's got your smile, I think," Abby remarked. "Look, see, I'm certain that's a dimple right there." They laughed together.

"I can't wait for the boys to meet her," Connor said. "Just as well though, I think Becker has them playing Boot Camp or something. Between her father, her brothers, and her Uncles Becker and Quinn, no one's getting anywhere near her 'til she's like, thirty."

"Connor." Abby punched him lightly in the arm. "If she's anywhere near as smart as you, or as stubborn as me, I think she will be quite capable of making her own decisions."

"Yeah, well, doesn't mean anyone will ever be good enough for her though, does it." He leaned down and kissed his daughter's forehead.

"Hush Connor and let me see her."

He put one arm around Abby and passed her their newborn daughter so he could wrap his other arm around her too and be able to hold both of them. He leaned back pulling her with him onto his chest.

"I love you," he whispered into her ear while she traced the planes of her daughter's perfect little face, "in case you ever doubt it or forget it. I love you, Abby Temple, from the first moment I saw you. You've given me more than I could have ever dreamed. I didn't know it was possible to be this happy." He planted little kisses down her neck and across her shoulder before trailing back up her neck.

"I know **exactly** what you mean," Abby said staring at her daughter's sleeping form before turning back to look at Connor. There eyes met and she kissed her husband tenderly, their lip's moving together in perfect rhythm. She really felt her life was complete and her heart could not contain another single drop of joy.


End file.
